Meanwhile, Back on Midgard
by Pengping
Summary: Post-Avengers. Sequel to "Shadows of the Past." War rages on Asgard, and SHIELD and the Avengers must work with Angborn on a case involving an Asgardian criminal. Black Cell escapee Dalkr is on Midgard, and he's killing to complete a terrifying ritual. HYDRA has also learned of Dalkr's ritual and they want him to succeed, even if it means the HYDRA Uprising happens a little early.
1. Introductions

"WARD!"

Grant Ward gave a start when he heard the scientists scream and instantly took off towards the source of his noise, drawing his ICER pistol. He slid into the room and was met with a dumbfounding sight. The corpse had sat up and was rubbing his eyes.

"Freeze!" Ward ordered as he snapped up his ICER to point it at the corpse.

The corpse lowered his hands and looked at Ward curiously as if he were an odd specimen. "Or what? You humans should know by now that your weapons can not hurt us."

With some effort, the corpse stood. Ward kept his weapon trained on him.

He had the same accent as Thor, so was he a friend of Thor's, or an enemy as Loki had been? "Are you Asgardian?"

"Angborn Eirillson," Angborn introduced. "You are SHIELD are you not?"

"Yes," Ward told him warily.

Angborn overlooked his bloody clothes and tested his stiff limbs to stall. Not only had rigor mortis start to set in, but SHIELD was indeed with him. He was supposed to work with SHIELD until Loki came, but how to best do that?

First, he decided to ask something he hadn't heard from Hel. "What happened to the women that lived here? I am unaware of what transpired after Jaro killed me."

"They are at a secure facility," Ward forfeited with his ICER still raised.

"Did Jaro injure them?" Angborn asked. "His Wolves can be," he cast about for a word, "dishonorable in such situations as finding them here alone."

Ward understood now, and was surprised by the note of genuine concern in Angborn's voice. The impression SHIELD had gotten from Thor was that most Asgardians considered humans to be beneath their concern. Thor didn't, not usually anyway, while Loki did, so who was he with?

"Darcy had some minor injuries," Ward relented, telling information in the hopes of getting some from Angborn, "but that was all."

"How long was I gone?" Angborn asked politely.

"Dead?" Simmons eked.

"Yes," Angborn nodded.

He glanced Simmons way, and she was instantly lost in his deep brown eyes. Within those eyes there was a slight glitter as if a field of golden stars had been placed just beneath the surface.

"You were dead when we got on the scene at sunrise. It is now mid-morning." Ward didn't have the exact figures.

He tried to make this Asgardians's casual dismissal of his own death sink in. SHIELD agents were not trained in dealing with corpses waking up.

Angborn tried to take a step forward, but failed and fell back onto the bed. His equilibrium had not quite reset itself yet. He took the chance to take better stock of the mess of the room. Most of this blood scattered about was likely his. _Sigh_. Leave it to Jaro to make such a scene.

Ward made a slight motion at the scientists to back up, but they obviously didn't have much field time and didn't notice. He decided to keep Angborn's attention on him least he notice that the two scientists were within easy striking range. Was he with Thor or that monster Loki?

"What happened here?" Ward decided to ask directly.

Angborn shrugged calmly. "Just a little skirmish. It's not too often Asgardians are trying to kill Asgardians, but it does happen. At least one casualty."

He smiled at that when he mentioned the casualty and looked down at his hands, wiggling his fingers with moderate success. Stupid rigor mortis.

Ward blinked and recovered. "Jane said that Loki came to her lab and a group of Asgardians tried to apprehend him. Were you one of the ones trying to catch that bastard?"

Angborn's first instinct was to say no. He wanted to say that he had been defending his prince, but Ward's body language made it clear he only wanted to hear one answer. When he considered everything, he figured Loki wouldn't mind if he played along with SHIELD. Once Loki showed up then of course Angborn would stand by him, but until then it would be better to make things easier on himself – especially since Hel expected him to work with SHIELD.

Angborn nodded. "Loki's quite a skilled a warrior. It seems I underestimated him. Were there any other bodies?"

"Just one," Ward said, and finally lowered his ICER a few degrees. "Now none."

It was going to be interesting explaining to Melinda May why his report was wrong.

A mix of sorrow and anger struck through Angborn suddenly. That meant that the bodies had likely been taken back with Loki in chains. They had caught his prince.

"Loki would not have the time or energy to get rid of the bodies," Angborn explained softly. "That means they were returned home after Loki was back in custody."

Ward smiled briefly, a very pleased half-smile.

Angborn wanted to wipe that smirk off of the agent's face. Loki had been through more than any being should be. This agent had no right to judge him. He couldn't though. Since Ward hadn't called him out on his bluff about him being Loki's enemy then Angborn could assume that Jane must not have told them what had happened. Pretending he was a friend of Thor's and enemy of Loki was the quickest way to get SHILED to trust him.

"Were you at New York?" Angborn asked, quickly changing the subject.

"No," Ward shook his head. He relaxed his grip on his ICER and held it by his side with one hand. "I've been there before though. It's a nice city. 4 million people were killed, and they were nearly all innocents. Loki didn't even flinch from killing them. From what Barton says, he actually flew down a street shooting at the civilians that were trying to escape. It's good he's behind bars where he belongs."

"His opinions are unique," Angborn said quietly. He didn't remember Thor or Loki mentioning that particular incident of Loki flying down the street shooting. "I do not believe you said your name."

"Grant Ward," Ward introduced. He holstered his ICER finally, but kept his arms by his side so he could draw it again quickly if need be.

Another SHIELD agent finally decided to see what they had missed and appeared in the doorway. He instantly drew and pointed his ICER at Angborn.

Angborn looked from one agent to the other in amusement. "What a petty race you are if your first response to everything is to try and shoot it."

 _Now_ Angborn sounded like an Asgardian. Ward nodded at the other agent to put up his weapon. He crossed his arms so he couldn't quick-draw his ICER. It seemed Angborn was a friend.

"Why aren't you dead anymore?" Ward asked.

Angborn was aware of how in error humans were about death and afterlife. Telling them about Hel might very well give them one of their heart attacks.

"Asgardians are hard to kill," he shrugged.

"But you were dead," Ward pushed.

"For a few hours," Angborn parried, confusing him on purpose as revenge for him calling Loki a bastard. "I do not suppose I could get something to eat. I fear dying has made me quite hungry."

They stared, but Angborn ignored them and coolly looked around for a blade. "Did you find any Asgardian weapons? I am not used to being unarmed."

"None we've located," Ward admitted.

"Very well," Angborn said as he stood again.

He managed to stay standing and walked to the doorway. Ward was in his way, but he stepped back and let Angborn walk by.

Simmons tablet beeped and she almost dropped it with another eek. After it bouncing from one hand to another for a few agonizing seconds, she managed to grab it and hold it to her chest. She shyly looked at the other agents as they glanced her way, Fitz included.

"My data is finished analyzing," she said in her normal perky voice, carefully pronouncing each word.

Ward and the other agent left without another word to follow Angborn, leaving Fitz with Simmons. He could visibly see the rest of his team freeze and stare as Angborn walked past them. To his credit, Angborn pretended they didn't exist and walked through the destroyed glass wall to stand out on the porch in the sunlight.

"What is going on?" One agent asked.

Ward's phone rang so Ward was forced to ignore his men and answer it. The secure frequency meant that only SHIELD could be calling. "Ward here."

"I need you to pull the feed from Jane's security system." A voice told him. Ward recognized it as Maria Hill.

"The orders already been given sir," Ward promised.

"Confiscate them," Hill ordered. "We have a media leak, and a rather severe one. I don't want news that Loki was here getting around."

"Yes sir," Ward acknowledged. "We do have a bit of a situation here."

Ward looked over at where Angborn stood outside. He seemed to be enjoying the sun.

"Some of the civilians get curious?"

Ward doubted that the people of Puente Antiguo would do more then ask after Jane and inquire if Thor had dropped by again. These people had had more contact with magic and aliens than any other humans, and they'd accepted it surprisingly well. No doubt they'd already guessed Asgard was involved.

"Not exactly sir…" Ward said reluctantly, trying to figure out how on Earth he was going to explain Angborn.

* * *

 **He he, i feel a little sorry for Ward. try explaining why you're report is wrong because "the body woke up and started walking around again, but i don't think he's a zombie."**

 **This is a continuation of Shadows of the Past, and Angborn is following Hel's orders from the last chapter of that story. It is easier to pretend to be an enemy of Loki then his friend in this case, don't you agree?**

 **This story is the compliment, and happens at the same time, as _Blood vs Water_ , only this story takes place on Midgard with SHIELD and the Avengers rather then on Asgard with Loki and Thor. ** **I highly advise that you read Blood vs Water because you are going to be really lost later on if you don't. You don't have to read them at the same time, but do make sure to read it after you read this one.**

 **This was not made clear, but although the characters from "Agents of SHIELD" are here and seen together, Coulson's team was never formed in my universe and Skye (Daisy) is not in it. A lot of stuff from that series like Project Tahiti and the Inhumans are not in my stories because i do not need it to be more complicated. Some of the spoilers from the series do apply though, so if you watch it don't say anything and spoil it.**


	2. New Orders For All

Spare clothes had been found for both Darcy and Jane so they could change out of their worn pajamas. A medic had already taken a look at Darcy's injuries on Hill's orders, but they were minor – only a few bruises and a sprained wrist now in a brace. She had been given a laptop, and Hill had dropped the security system so Darcy could go on the internet. She was currently playing some games that were saved on the flash drive necklace she had been wearing.

Hill chided herself as she walked down to the Triskelion's main lobby, aware that she should have known that no race was perfect. Thor was good, but that did not mean all Asgardians were and Darcy had given her a nice picture of some of the bad Asgardians. Jaro and the Blood Wolves. SHIELD's missions were bloody and there were counselors here, but Darcy had shrugged off the suggestion of seeing one.

Once Hill reached the lobby she stood near the entrance as the "situation" was escorted into the Triskelion by Grant Ward. The Asgardian had cleaned most of the blood off of himself but his clothes, a uniform it looked to Hill, were still red and black. He didn't have any visible injuries.

He walked straight and relaxed as if he was not worried. Since he was Asgardian and the only ones around here were human he probably didn't have much to worry about, Hill thought again. Although his eyes were said to brown, they seemed to glimmer golden. The gold faded as he approached Hill, and Hill wondered if she had imagined it or if she had just seen magic.

"Welcome to the Triskelion," she greeted the visitor.

Hill's mission parameters weren't normally welcoming guests, but her orders were straight from Fury. She had to admit, she had met Thor and was curious about another Asgardian, especially one who had just come back from the dead.

The Asgardian apprised her, standing at attention out of habit. "What is your rank?"

"Rank?" Hill asked.

"You are a warrior of this Realm like my escort. The way you stand, the accent of your voice makes that fact clear to me. You are a commander though where this human," he glanced at Ward, "is just a soldier."

He was intuitive, and Hill had a suspicion he was well trained. "Maria Hill, Vice Director of SHIELD."

"Angborn Eirillson," Angborn greeted back with a bow. "The correct way to address you is by your last name, correct?"

Hill nodded. Any human would know that, but Jane had needed to teach Thor some of the basic human customs such as title. It was surprising that Angborn would already know.

"I wager then Milady Hill that you wish me to answer a few question about my home. It cannot be often that you get an information source straight from Asgard." Angborn's eyes were steady, but they brightened with amusement when he realized he had pegged Hill perfectly. "I too am a warrior, and I am familiar with espionage. I will answer some of your question though, for I am the intruder and I should explain myself."

Hill was lucky that Angborn was so quick to cooperate. Her paranoia said that he had agreed too quickly, but that was impossible to judge since she didn't know him. She kept that paranoia in mind though.

"Ward," she addressed him as he stood next to Angborn. "I want your report."

"Yes sir," Ward said and walked off.

Hill reached into her pocket and withdrew a small silver clip. "Put this on your shirt. It's visitor access. I'll have to arrange a change in clothes."

"I'm fine," Angborn said as he clipped the pin near his collar above his heart. "I'm used to it and I have a feeling you are as well."

He was good at reading people, Hill admitted. It would be interesting to team him and Romanoff together.

"I've gotten bloodied up," she agreed, "but not all of our agents are warriors."

Angborn took in some of the crowd. "Yes, many of them appear to be civilians or else not field operatives."

"They're also not used to Asgardians," Hill remarked with a slight nod of acknowledgment at his observation.

"I can imagine not. If it is alright with you, I wish to see Jane and make sure she is alright before I answer your questions," Angborn said. "Prince Thor would not be pleased if she were injured. As I am the only Asgardian present she is, in a manner of speaking, under my protection."

"They're in the facility," Hill assured him, "this way."

Angborn followed her to an elevator. Hill scanned her ID.

"Floor 9, guest wing," she called out once the doors closed, "guest is with me."

There was a chime and then the elevator started moving up. Angborn took a step back and gripped the rails, eyes wide. When he noticed that Hill was not perturbed by the elevator he decided that nothing was wrong, and slowly relaxed his grip and stood straight. He made sure to keep his hands on the railing.

"They don't have any elevators on Asgard, do they?" Hill asked, keeping her face neutral and hiding her amusement at his reaction. It would do no good to embarrass him.

"No," Angborn promised. "There are stairs or portal gates, and mages often teleport. You don't have portal gates here I take it."

"The closest we had to that was when the Tesseract was used to open up a portal." Hill didn't mention Loki or New York by name, but it was clear Angborn knew what event she was referring to.

Angborn did not reply to the mention of Loki. It was hard for Hill to forget the battle aboard the Helicarrier or seeing Barton, one of their best agents, reduced to a mindless puppet by Loki. There were also all the agents she had lost when Loki had let himself be captured and then nearly destroyed both the Helicarrier and New York. She wondered how well Angborn knew Loki.

The doors to the elevator opened with a quiet chime and she walked out. Angborn looked grateful to leave. There were numbers on the wall near several doorways and she stopped in front of the one numbered 9.

"Darcy is in Room 11," Hill told Angborn as she knocked on Jane's door.

Someone said come in. Hill scanned her ID again and turned the lever. The door clicked open and she held it for Angborn, and then let it close behind her. The furniture was arranged neatly inside, and Jane was sitting on a chair speaking to someone Angborn didn't know.

"Coulson," Hill greeted with some confusion when she saw the person with Jane. "You're back on duty already?"

"Fury pulled me in from Tahiti since I've had so much contact with Asgardians." Philip Coulson explained, and looked past Hill to where Angborn was standing in shock. "Is that the situation I've heard of?"

"You are Coulson?" Angborn's voice jumped an octave. "Loki said he killed you."

"I've got the scar to prove it," Coulson replied. "And he did kill me for 38 seconds until Fury restarted my heartbeat. I've been recovering on Tahiti since. You a friend of Loki's?"

"Your tone turns hostile with ease," Angborn noted. "I was raised with two princes, and it is hard to believe that I now only have one. In some ways I don't believe it."

He did have only one prince now – Loki. Coulson and Hill both gave him a surprised look.

"I thought Ward said you were one of the Asgardians sent to kill Loki, but he killed you," Hill said sharply.

Jane coughed as she tried to take a sip of her green tea. Huh? Who said what now? Loki kill Angborn?

"That is true," Angborn said, hoping Jane would play along. "But I spent a thousand years with Loki as my prince. I'm still in shock that everything could change so quickly."

Jane understood. If SHIELD was reacting this badly to Angborn mentioning that he used to be friends with Loki then they wouldn't take the reality of Angborn and Loki being allies very well. She wouldn't say anything, and she'd have to find some way to explain this to Darcy that SHIELD wouldn't catch onto.

"How is Darcy?" Angborn asked Jane. "Thor told me that she was a friend of yours."

That was right, Jane realized. Angborn had to pretend that he didn't personally know Jane or Darcy. "She had a run in with Jaro, but just got some bruises. I think she's in her room watching Youtube. You don't know what that is do you?"

Angborn shook his head. "No I do not and I am glad Jaro did not harm her seriously. He's… frustrating to have to deal with. I'm allowed to deck him at least, if not kill him."

Coulson smiled slightly. Alright, this Angborn had his priorities backwards but at least he wasn't all bad.

"As for that Youtube," Angborn shrugged. "I suppose someone will fill me in eventually."

The phrasing of his sentence sent a little flag off for Hill. "How long do you plan on staying?"

Angborn didn't answer immediately. This would be tricky since he was now a traitor and couldn't return to Asgard. He looked down at his worn and stained boots for a bit as he picked his words.

"The fact that I am still here, and have not been transported home in an odd one. I have not been missed much, and I don't quite understand it," Angborn said, lacing a puzzled undertone into his words.

Angborn was really lucky that Jaro had killed him and everyone back home thought he was still dead or else he'd have been dragged home already. Heimdall hadn't even caught onto the fact that he lived, and that troubled him deeply. It was a sign that Hel was telling the truth and Asgard was at war with the Celestials if Heimdall wasn't able to keep watch over the realms.

"So you're just staying?" Jane asked. She didn't know about this part.

"I can't go home on my own. Asgard is currently at peace," Angborn fibbed, "so they can do without me for a time. Something is likely going on for Heimdall to not notice me, or else he thinks I am needed here."

"I see," Hill sighed. She supposed having an Asgardian here to help couldn't be all bad. "Now that you've seen Jane, SHIELD has some questions. Fury assigned Coulson as you SO for the moment, so he will ask the questions."

"My Senior Officer is a human? This should be interesting," Angborn hummed.

"I do have errands to tend to tend to, so I'll leave you in Coulson's care," Hill announced.

She nodded goodbye to the people in the room and left. Coulson waited until she was gone, and then looked back at Angborn. The Asgardian had an amused look that he had seen on both Thor and Loki at some point.

"You have quarters across the hall in Room Ten that your visitor pass will unlock," Coulson informed Angborn. "There's a new set of clothes in there. The debrief can wait until you change."

Angborn took his cue. He bowed to Jane and then went outside was well.

"Coulson?" Jane asked.

"Yes Mrs. Foster?"

"If my lab has been secure I would like to go back and check out the damage. I was working on _Project Nightview_ for SHIELD. If too much of my technology was destroyed in the fight I might to have to start over," Jane's voice was as simple as she could make it.

It would be better for Angborn if she wasn't here where she might say something that would give away his ruse.

"I'll see what I can do," Coulson promised her.

She took another sip of her tea with a grateful nod. _Project Nightview_ was important to SHIELD, almost as much as _Project Insight_ was. Jane had taken a break from working on it while Thor had been with her, but the completion of it was one of SHIELD's priorities.

Couslson stood and said goodbye to Mrs. Foster. He'd look into having her returned to Puente Antiguo right now, and doing so would also give Angborn some time to change and check out his new surroundings. The question was, Coulson thought as he walked back into the hallway, was Angborn allied with Thor or Loki?

* * *

 **Everyone knows that he's allied with Loki, but SHIELD doesn't. He he he. Won't they be surprised when they learn where Angborn's true loyalties lie? As i said, the events of Agents of SHIELD don't happen in my story so Tahiti is just an island and nothing more.** **Angborn better be careful what he says and he better not underestimate SHIELD and the humans like most Asgardians do or he's going to be caught quicker then he thinks.**


	3. A Few Questions

Coulson decided to interview Angborn in his quarters. It would be a more relaxed environment that should help put SHIELD's new Asgardian ally at ease. Of course, Coulson had no way to be sure that Angborn was an ally. He said he was, but Angborn could say pretty much whatever he wanted and SHIELD would be none the wiser since they had no way to confirm or deny anything.

The best conformation that they could do was listen and see if they caught Angborn in a lie. If they didn't, then he might not be lying. He might be lying anyway since he had mentioned earlier he was familiar with espionage, and might have training in that field.

Coulson gave Angborn half an hour to shower off all the blood and change while he checked out arrangements to have Jane returned to her lab. After that was taken care of he walked back to Angborn's room with a tablet tucked under his arm. It should have all the information he needed saved on it.

He knocked, and after a few seconds the door opened. Angborn stood before him. His straight shoulder length hair looked black as it was still wet, but he was freshly changed into human clothes. It looked a little odd for Coulson to see an Asgardian in human civilian clothes.

"Son of Coul," Angborn greeted him.

Coulson almost groaned when Angborn said that. Thor had addressed him the same way, and it was not the correct way to say his name. This was what he got for having a last name that sounded just like an Asgardian surname.

"You don't like the name?" Angborn mused when he saw Coulson's reaction.

He stepped back to allow Coulson entry.

"Thor called me the same thing," Coulson explained. "Coulson is my last name. My father's name was not Coul, it was Robert."

"Apologies," Angborn dipped his head in a bow. "Asgard surnames are usually the father's name and then 'son' or 'dottir.' Your surname is like ours."

"I have noticed," Coulson promised and walked in.

"How would you like me to address you, ser?" Angborn asked curiously.

"Coulson is fine," Coulson told him, not wanting titles to be thrown around to keep the atmosphere lighter. "What is ser?"

"It is an honorable title," Angborn explained. "Usually it is appointed to a protector or a warrior. As part of SHIELD you are both to the people of Midgard."

"You seem to know quite a bit about SHIELD. May I sit?" Coulson nodded to two chairs set up on either side of a coffee table.

Angborn nodded again, and the two of them sat down. "May I assume you are recording this conversation?"

"Yes," Coulson admitted. "Is that a problem?"

"No," Angborn promised smoothly. "As to my knowledge of SHIELD, I am a close friend of Thor's. He has told me much about the human's warriors in between speaking to his father."

"And his father is Odin, the King of Asgard, correct?" Coulson asked and powered up the tablet. He tapped on it a bit.

"Correct ser," Angborn agreed. "Odin Borrson is Allfather of Asgard and the ruler of the Nine Realms. He ensures that there is balance between the realms and that _Asgard_ _stays in power_."

Angborn realized with annoyance that a note of venom had slipped into his voice in the last few words. Coulson noticed it. Of course he noticed it, he was a SHIELD agent and it seemed Loki had not exaggerated their abilities.

"You don't agree with Odin?" Coulson pried.

There were several ways Angborn could address this question, but he picked the one the most truthful one. SHIELD would need to know what they were getting into by working with Asgard and Odin.

Angborn picked his words out. "It would be… unwise for you humans to try and argue with Asgard. Odin's retaliation, when delivered, would be deadly."

Coulson tensed. His conversation was being watched over by another SHIELD agent in another room who was specifically watching the monitors around her to see Angborn's reactions. The person was Natasha Romanoff, and she blinked in surprise at Angborn's voice. She had been deployed to help watch over Coulson only because she was between missions and SHIELD was a little understaffed at the moment.

"Is that a threat?" Coulson asked sharply.

Coulson had hoped he would get along with Angborn, but was suddenly wary of the possibility if he was threatening them so easily.

"No," Angborn corrected Coulson. "It's a warning of how Odin rules the Nine Realms."

Romanoff and Coulson both got a bad feeling as Angborn continued.

"There are Nine Realms," Angborn said quietly. "In the past there were nine races, but now hwoever there are only eight."

Romanoff's bad feeling vibe suddenly became more than a vibe, and Coulson looked at Angborn intently as he continued.

"The Dökkálfr of Svartalfheim, often called the Dark Elves, were a race who challenged Asgard, "Angborn explained slowly. "A war broke out between them and Asgard, and Asgard won… at the cost of the Dark Elves."

"What do you mean at the cost of the Dark Elves?" Coulson asked with a sinking feeling that he already knew.

"For the crime of challenging Asgard," Angborn said seriously. "The Dökkálfr were wiped out in their entirety. Every citizen, civilian, and officer were killed. Svartalfheim is now a dead world where not even microbes can survive."

He looked down at his boots.

"You mean," Coulson whispered.

"Genocide," Angborn nodded. "When Asgard goes to war it wages Total War in the truest sense of the term. In order to ensure Asgard's continued rule, all who oppose it are killed."

It was quiet as that sank in. Romanoff stared at the screen that showed a picture of Angborn's face. Barely suppressed venomous hatred painted his eyes and the way he sat. He clenched his hands into fists. She didn't think he was making it up.

"I thought I should tell you humans what you are in for," Angborn said. "Thor does not believe what Odin is capable of, and no other Asgardian would tell you."

"Why do you?" Coulson asked.

Angborn chuckled. "Odin is the king I am sworn to obey, but I've seen too much to blindly follow him as I once did. Many of my people consider you humans mortals, and inferior to themselves. Things could become dangerous for you. Thor is still young in many ways, but I believe that he would make a better king then Odin. He would not do what Odin and the rest of the Allfathers have done."

The rest of the Allfathers? Romanoff swore quietly. If what Angborn said was true then it implied that all of Asgard's kings had fought a total war with genocide tactics. Things had suddenly become dangerous.

Angborn e wasn't telling SHILED the entire truth, but enough of it to shift some of their mistrust of Loki onto Odin. Malekith had been planning to unleash the Aether, and destroy the other eight realms to save his from becoming extinct. Turning the humans against Odin would work in his favor though, and it might make them more willing to trust the Raven Blades above other Asgardian troops. Since the Raven Blades served Loki, this would work twofold.

He wasn't entirely wrong though. When Tilaria had managed to reactivate the computer of a crashed Dökkálfr Harrow-class Starfighter she had seen that its AI had been infected by a virus. The virus had been what had forced it to crash, not Malekith's order.

What had truly shaken Angborn was the unshakable knowledge that the virus responsible for making the ships crash and exterminating the Dökkálfr was very likely Asgardian in origin. Malekith had not killed his race. The virus had. Asgard even the audacity to pin it entirely on Malekith so their hands would stay clean of the crime.

"Whether you believe my words or not is your choice," Angborn told Coulson. "But please don't forget them. You can ask any Realmer you meet and they will say the same. The Dökkálfr lost their war against Asgard and became extinct."

"I see," Coulson said quietly.

Angborn smiled, and the smile was twisted by the irony of what he was about to say. "Well Coulson, now you know."

"Know what?" Coulson asked.

"Who taught Loki his battle strategies," Angborn said in dark amusement. "He was raised as a son of Odin after all."

He watched that fact sink into Coulson, and saw his eyes widen slightly for a moment. Angborn knew he had just won a crucial move by saying that one line. Turning Odin into a scapegoat was the best idea Angborn had to help Loki's relations with Midgard and SHIELD.

Just like with his story about the Dark Elves he was being honest. Loki had been raised as Odin's son, and had learned Total War and genocide. Suddenly, it was not Loki's fault so much as the fault of the one who had taught him that those strategies were acceptable – Odin. It wasn't much, but Angborn hoped it would help.

Coulson finally managed to stop thinking about that. The scars on his chest from where Loki had stabbed him with the scepter suddenly burned, but he pushed the feeling aside. He needed to finish his questions, and could probe his thoughts later.

"The last we saw Loki, he was secure and awaiting sentence on Asgard," Coulson returned to the real topic. "How did he get to Midgard?"

Angborn let the switch slide. If he pushed his point too hard it would only make him look suspicious. It was better to let the humans turn it over in their minds.

"As I'm sure you know from Thor, Odin sentenced Loki to death. Yesterday, Loki was escorted to his execution but managed to escape." Angborn blinked as he thought it over.

Was it really just yesterday afternoon that he had become a traitor to Asgard? The thoughts were dangerous, but Angborn knew that Midgard had no telepaths so he had little to fear. He turned back to the subject at hand.

"He went to Bifrost and took control of it," Angborn continued. "Several soldiers attempted to apprehend him. In the ensuing fight, Loki fled and Bifrost was damaged. That is why it took so long for us to come to Midgard after him and recapture him. It might also explain why I'm not back on Asgard. The fix to Bifrost was a patch job, and the transport to and from Midgard might have damaged it again."

That was a pleasant thought. Repairing the Bifrost would take quite some time. It meant that Angborn didn't have to worry about an uninvited guest dropping by and revealing he was a traitor. If that happened then SHIELD would discard everything he had said. His attempt to help Loki would only end up backfiring.

"How did Loki escape his execution?" Coulson asked in curiosity. "Wasn't there security?"

Angborn laughed quietly. "Of course there was. It's _Loki_. He managed to escape anyway though I think that's only because Thor helped him."

That got a response from Coulson. "Thor helped him escape?"

"Thor still calls Loki his brother," Angborn pointed out. "You truly think he'd just sit on his heels and watch as his younger brother was beheaded?"

Coulson silently conceded the point. "Why is Thor still so loyal to Loki? You'd think he would learn that Loki is a monster."

Angborn forced himself not to react to the insult. Romanoff narrowed her eyes curiously. He had suppressed his reaction well enough that Coulson missed it, but she had seen Angborn react to Loki being called a monster. She might say he was insulted. Why would someone calling Loki a monster insult Angborn if they were enemies?

"How old do I look to you?" Angborn asked suddenly.

"You didn't answer my question," Coulson pointed out.

"I am answering it," Angborn corrected. "Now, how old do I look?"

Coulson didn't understand, but looked Angborn over. "Early twenties, but Thor told me that Asgardians live longer."

Angborn smiled. "I am a little over one thousand years old."

"What the hell?" Romanoff whispered.

"I see," Coulson said. "Was there a point to that because if there was I missed it."

It seemed Angborn would have to spell it out. "Loki is over a thousand years old, and so is Thor. The two haven't been brothers for two decades, but for a thousand years. The kinship between the two of them has had a thousand years to strengthen. It has been not even a year and a half since Loki was believed dead, and barely over a month since Loki has returned as an enemy."

"Thor is judging Loki based on standards created when they were growing up," Coulson understood. "It's hard to accept the present when the past tells so different of a story, especially since they've had a thousand years together. It's only had a month to sink in."

Angborn was glad that Coulson understood.

"What about you?" Coulson asked suddenly.

"Hmm?" Angborn hummed in surprise.

"You said you were over a thousand as well," Coulson repeated. "How did you take Loki's betrayal?"

Angborn stared at the new black tennis shoes he was wearing as he thought about that.

"I didn't believe it," he said quietly and honestly. "Loki has been a hero and protector of Asgard and the realms for over a thousand years. Then in the span of the year after he falls of Bifrost he's become as twisted as Nira."

"Nira? Who's that?" Coulson interrupted.

"She's the leader of the Marauders," Angborn replied.

"What are the Marauders?" Coulson asked again in a suddenly wary voice. "They don't sound friendly."

"You don't-" Angborn started, and then sighed. "No of course you have no way to know about them. "The Marauders operate on Vanaheim, one of the Nine Realms. They're a group of rag-tag outlaws, murders, and looters. In the past they were a nuisance, fighting with each other as much as the forces on Vanaheim. Once Nira joined their ranks she turned them into an organized crime syndicate. Despite trying, we've never managed to wipe them out."

Any information would be welcome, and it sounded like these Marauders might be enemies SHIELD would one day face. Coulson decided it might be best to press while Angborn was talking.

"Nira sounds like trouble," Coulson pressed.

Angborn snorted. "Nira's the worst of them. She used to be one of Vanaheim's princesses until she decided that she didn't want to wait for her mother to die to become queen, so she killed her mother, and older sister. She tried to kill the rest of her family to so she would be the only heir of royal blood, but Asgard managed to intervene in time. After that, she joined with the Marauders."

"Make that a lot of trouble," Coulson corrected seriously.

"You have no idea," Angborn shook his head. "Nira's been pronounced dead seven times, and every time she has returned without a scratch or scar on her. Her luck, as she has it, is matched by her skill."

"How good is she?" Coulson asked seriously.

Angborn thought about it. "Let me put it this way."

Uh oh, Couslon thought. He knew that phrase and he was not going to like what Angborn said next.

"Nira," Angborn continued, "staged her coup and killed half her family when she was young. By human time, she was almost twelve years old."

"T-twelve," Coulson stuttered. "Are you sure?"

Angborn glared at him. Of course he was sure!

"You forget," Angborn pointed out. "She might have physically been the equivalent of a twelve year old, but because the Vanir of Vanaheim age as slowly as Asgardians she was already over four hundred years old. That's plenty of time to learn to kill. She makes Loki look like a champion. If you met her, then I think even SHIELD would agree."

Romanoff looked at Angborn doubtfully through the monitor. There was someone who was so bad they made Loki look like a good guy? She remembered speaking to Loki while he was a ' _prisoner'_ aboard the Helicarrier, just before New York. The threats he had made when she had asked what he had done to Barton still chilled her. _There is no way that there is anyone worse than Loki._

"You seem to have something personal against her," Coulson said with a question in his voice.

"The Realms learned that Nira was a Marauder when she attacked Asgard," Angborn tightened his grip on the arm of the chair. "She stole the Tesseract from the Weapon's Vault and nearly escaped with it. To give you an example of how she is, when she and her teammates were heading to the rendezvous with the stolen Tesseract they came across a class of cadets. Nira killed all of them, cut them to pieces. That was one year after her coup."

"I don't think I would want to meet her in a dark alley," Coulson agreed, "but no more than Loki."

Angborn leaned forward a little dramatically, seeing a chance to again color the humans perspective on Loki. "Loki racked up 4 million casualties in one battle here on Midgard, but Nira has gotten over 7 million casualties throughout six centuries of being a Marauder. That number should be doubled except every time she tries a move Loki tries to stop her."

"Loki?" Coulson asked and then his shoulders tensed. "Did you say 14 million casualties?"

"At least, and yes." Angborn replied to the latter and then former question. "Does it surprise you to know that Loki's been fighting to protect the realms until last month with New York?"

"Yes," Coulson replied bluntly.

"Everyone else knows that Loki used to be a hero," Angborn countered. "That is why it is so hard to believe things have changed so drastically – especially for Thor. Does that answer your earlier question?"

All of that talk about Nira was just to answer the one question? Romanoff couldn't approve of how long it took, but she now understood Angborn's point. Loki had been fighting Nira for centuries, and now after one year – practically overnight for a long-lived race like an Asgardian – he had become something worse than her.

"As for what happened on Midgard following Loki's ;attest escape," Angborn went back to the question of Loki's escape. "Heimdall quickly patched up Bifrost and sent myself and four other warriors to Midgard to bring Loki back. From what I've seen they were successful in apprehending him although I was grievously injured."

"So you didn't die?" Coulson prodded Angborn's story carefully.

"If I died then I wouldn't be alive now, now would I?" Angborn lied with an amused chuckle. "I'm afraid to report that what I told Ward about being dead was simply me having a little fun with the human. I was certainly grateful for the distraction, but I do hope I didn't confuse him too badly."

Angborn _had_ confused Ward badly. The report Ward had given went like this:

 ** _Ward:_** _"Why aren't you dead anymore?"_

 ** _Angborn:_** _"Asgardians are hard to kill."_

 ** _Ward:_** _"But you were dead."_

 ** _Angborn:_** _"For a few hours. I do not suppose I could get something to eat. I fear dying has made me quite hungry."_

Just the race of self-proclaimed gods having a little fun with the mortals. Coulson supposed that this was all the proof he needed that Angborn was Asgardian.

The door to the room Romanoff was borrowing opened, and Romanoff glanced away from the screens to look over at the intruder. It was Maria Hill.

"Vice Commander," Romanoff greeted. "I'm in the middle of an op."

"I know," Hill promised, "but we just identified the media leak. They're on their way to pass off a copy of Jane Foster's security feed from the latest incident. You need to leave now to stop it."

"Why me?" Romanoff asked with a slightly puzzled expression. "Can't another agent do it?"

Hill gave Romanoff a knowing look. "You are fully aware that even though it has been a month after New York our agents are stretched thin shutting down black markets selling Chitauri technology and dealing with humans who are trying the tech on."

Hill shook her head at the last one. She couldn't believe that there were so many humans out there willing to let the Chitauri's technology cybernetically bond with them. Unfortunately, most of those wearing it were terrorist factions trying to make their soldiers more effective. What was far more disastrous was that their soldiers had indeed become more effective.

"Your mission of trying to read our guest can wait," Hill nodded at the screens that showed Coulson and Angborn from various angles. "Coulson can stop questioning Angborn until you return. That security feed cannot be allowed to hit the media."

"Renee Grayson again, right?" Romanoff sighed.

That reporter was getting on her nerves.

"Unfortunately," Hill admitted.

"What's on it?" Romanoff asked.

"Classified," Hill told the Avenger reluctantly.

"From me?" Romanoff asked in surprise, a bit taken back.

"You're leaving now," Hill changed the subject. "Tell Coulson that you'll be back."

Romanoff gave Hill a doubtful look, but raised a hand to the headset she was wearing. "Coulson, Hill just gave me a mission to stop the media leak. I'll return soon."

Coulson heard Romanoff through the earpiece, but couldn't respond without arousing Angborn's suspicion.

"Any more questions, Coulson?" Angborn asked.

Angborn's timing was perfect, and Coulson shook his head. "Not at the moment."

Coulson stood to excuse himself, and Angborn did as well.

"Of course," Angborn said suddenly as Coulson opened the door to leave. "You can't keep questioning me without the red-haired Avenger watching my every move to try and tell truth from lie, now can you?"

Romanoff whipped around to face the security screens, and Hill raised her eyebrows in surprise. Coulson hesitated, and looked over his shoulder at Angborn. How did he know about Romanoff, and that she was leaving?

Angborn's smile grew as he realized he had been dead on.

"One last question," Coulson asked, still half in and half out of Angborn's temporary quarters. "Can you use magic?"

"I am no mage," Angborn promised, "but I don't have to be."

He looked up straight at one of the hidden cameras in the room. As Romanoff's eyes shifted to the screen of the camera Angborn was looking at she almost felt like he was looking through the camera at her.

Angborn looked back down at Coulson after a moment. "May I see Jane?"

"Again? "Coulson asked in surprise.

"She is used to Asgardians," Angborn shrugged innocently. "At the moment she is the only one I am familiar with."

"Very well," Coulson said reluctantly.

The two were now standing in the hallway. Coulson knocked, and then swiped his ID to open Jane's door. He turned the lever and slowly opened the door. Jane and Darcy were sitting around the coffee table like Angborn and Coulson had been.

"Angborn, Agent," Jane greeted them neutrally.

"Mrs. Foster," Coulson said politely. "Pardon the intrusion, but Angborn wished to check in on you again."

Jane smiled brightly. "If you were in contact with Thor then I'd accuse him of putting you up to babysit me."

"I only wish that I could speak with someone from home," Angborn sighed. "I do wonder why Heimdall has left me here."

"Mrs. Foster," Coulson said suddenly. "I would like to get your account of events last night at your lab. You gave a preliminary account when we tracked down your jeep in town, but I would like the full story."

"I suppose that is fair," Jane nodded. "I do thank you for letting Darcy and I get some sleep when you brought us back to the Triskelion instead of interrogating us right away."

"You two needed some rest," Coulson said in an assuring tone. "This isn't an interrogation either. You've committed no crime. Would it be all right if I speak to her alone?"

"Of course," Angborn said with a salute, fisting his right hand over his chest. His arm was parallel to the ground.

He knew that Coulson was about to interrogate Jane for her story to see the differences between their stories. If he did that then Jane would be caught, and so would he. To prevent that, Angborn used a specially designed Raven trick meant to counter that.

He took Jane's hand and kissed the back of it as per Asgardian custom. While his fingers were touching Jane's he shifted the memory of his interrogation with Coulson to her so that she knew exactly what he had said. This would allow Jane to custom tailor her lie to match his so that there would be no conflict, and nothing to arouse SHIELD suspicion.

He couldn't count the number of times the Ravens had done this among themselves to cover each other, and deflect suspicion away from them. A little bit of gold light glowed on Jane's hand as a copy of the memory shifted. The copy didn't include what he had told Coulson about Nira, or the events of Asgard. It only told of his retelling of what had happened on Midgard. Since he didn't think that Jane was practicing in lying, the perfect lie took shape in her mind so she would know exactly what to say.

"Milady," Angborn said and lowered his hand from hers.

Coulson noticed that Jane looked a little flustered, but accounted it to Angborn's action. With Romanoff walking off to head off the informer, there was no one to see the glitter of magic. Jane blushed slightly, and nodded as the lie settled on her tongue. Angborn was full of surprises.

"Darcy," Jane called over.

Darcy was already standing. "I know I know."

Angborn held the door open for her, and touched Darcy's arm as she walked by casually when he closed the door. Darcy blinked as the memory and story took root. Huh?

Angborn didn't react and closed Jane's door behind him.

"Milady," he told Darcy with a bow and went back to his room.

Despite leaving his door propped open, Angborn found it had closed. He shook his head as he unclipped the visitor pin and unlocked it. Before it had a chance to lock him out, he turned the lever and walked inside.

Coulson was wary of letting Jane and Angborn speak to one another before he had a chance to address Jane. He hadn't wanted to give Angborn the chance to tell Jane what to say. That was a sensible precaution, Angborn admitted. It was too bad for the humans that he was a Raven Blade, and that Loki had imprinted Angborn with a fragment of his magic so that Angborn could artificially use some spells. Angborn had not been lying with what he had told SHIELD. He had not been born a mage, but that did not mean that Loki hadn't given him a "little upgrade" to make his life easier.

By effect of course, it made SHIELD's life harder. It was odd, but Angborn just couldn't bring himself to be bothered by it. Actually no, it wasn't odd at all.

* * *

 **Leave it to the Raven Blades to have tricks like that lie charm to frustrate mundane's like Coulson. If you have read "A Different Kind of Courage," which you should, you will know about the incident with Nira. I am trying to make this story more from the POV of SHIELD agents and other humans, but I am going to have some of Angborn's thoughts in there.**

 **There will be more information about SHIELD's current standing and predicament in the next chapter, but they are stretched thin. Not to confuse you readers, but Angborn actually did die. He's contradicting himself on purpose to confuse the humans.**

 **As for my theory with the Dark Elves, you might be familiar with it. All of the stories at the start of the Thor movies are told by Odin from Asgard's POV. What about the POV of the race they fought? Every story has two sides, but Marvel Cinematic only gives us one. I agree that Malekith was not a good guy, but consider the Dark Elves like _Star Trek_. He had to have known what would have happened to his home and his people if his ships fell out of the sky as they did.**

 **It's been confirmed that Malekith was trying to restore the universe to darkness to save his people. If he was trying to save them, then why would he execute them by ordering his ships to drop from the sky? From the events in the _Dark World_ movie, it's made clear that Malekith's one ship, which was likely not fully-crewed and had been asleep for five thousand years, tore Asgard apart. If Malekith had not retreated after he killed Frigga and kept pressing the attack on Asgard then he might have won. That was ONE SHIP. **

**Against an enemy that powerful, why wouldn't Asgard take advantage of a chance to eliminate it?**


	4. Hail

Renee Grayson drummed her fingers on the metal table of the outdoor café she sat at. An empty notepad sat to her left with a blue pen and her smartphone on it, and a ham sub was sitting in front of her. She was starting to get anxious. Where was her SHIELD agent with the new scoop he had promised?!

She took a breath to calm herself, and idly took a sip of the iced tea sitting next to her notepad. Renee Grayson was a reporter for the _Washington Post_ , and her column always dealt with SHIELD. SHIELD hated her. Her Editor-In-Chief and readers loved her.

Her friend at SHIELD had just called to tell her about something big that had happened in Puente Antiguo, the site of the first Human-Asgardian interaction and the first time humans met aliens. All he had said was that it had to do with Asgard and Loki.

Covering the events of New York and the enemy general Loki – an Asgardian by the way – was Renee's biggest topic. The moment Loki's name was mentioned by the SHIELD officer Renee promised she'd meet him at the Café du Parc. Now he was late, and Renee was getting worried about her next big scoop going down the drain.

Someone sat at the table across from her and Renee looked up. She expected to see her SHIELD friend and was surprised instead to see a red-haired woman. Her heartbeat increased when she realized it was Natasha Romanoff of the Avengers. Romanoff's entrance had been smooth enough that no one had noticed her yet.

"Waiting for someone Grayson?" Romanoff asked her.

"What concern would that be of yours?" Renee challenged with a huff.

Now her friend would never come. He'd see Romanoff and run out. It would be hard to get him to meet her again.

"You are a SHIELD concern," Romanoff replied.

"The public has a right to know the information SHEILD is keeping locked up," Renee replied hotly. "You knew about the Asgardians and aliens over a year before the Battle of New York, and yet did nothing to warn us."

"So one of your articles informed the public of," Romanoff said pointedly.

Romanoff still hated the fact that Grayson had made that bit of news public. It had been a month since New York, and SHIELD was still catching a lot of heat for not revealing the truth about aliens beforehand. They had successfully created the Avengers team to counter a threat, but no, that wasn't good enough.

The two glared at each other. Renee was always going around in circles with any SHIELD personal that came near her. Be it an Avenger, or a field specialist they had sent to her to try and coax her to stop publishing.

Unfortunately for SHIELD, Renee Grayson was the granddaughter of Rockwell, one of the member of the World Security Council that oversaw SHIELD's activities. They could speak to her, but could take no further actions such as classifying her documents or arresting her. Renee was untouchable and she knew it all too well.

"I'm afraid to tell you that if you're waiting for Joshua Mendez to come and tell you about our activities that you are going to be waiting a long time," Romanoff warned casually.

Renee sat straight. Damn! They'd finally caught him! There went her next big story…

Rockwell had assured SHIELD that he was not the one feeding her information, and SHIELD had confirmed that. Renee was taking advantage of him to stay immune, but she was not getting information from him. That position belonged to a SHIELD member.

Renee crossed her arms with a huff. "I don't suppose you'd like to comment on the recent incident with Puente Antiguo and Loki?"

"I'm afraid not," Romanoff said.

Inwardly she recoiled. Renee knew about Loki's involvement! How much did she know about the incident?

"Worth a try," Renee shrugged innocently and grumpily took a bite of her sandwich.

Romanoff knew that this wouldn't stop Renee. Renee would use her status as Councilman Rockwell's granddaughter and talk another SHIELD agent around to telling her what was going on. Joshua Mendez was the third agent she'd swayed to talk to her since New York, and New York was only a month ago.

Romanoff was impressed by the fact that Renee had managed to talk three highly-ranked SHIELD personal into breaking their oaths of confidentiality in a mere month. With the first two agents, Renee had threatened that her grandfather would take action against them if they disobeyed her, and had even managed to fabricate evidence to make her threat seem sincere.

SHIELD had spoken to Rockwell, and he had told them that he would do no such thing. They had been able to pass on assurances to their agents. Romanoff had thought that with that threat gone that they would be done with leaks. Renee was nothing if not creative to have talked the _third_ agent into helping her without the threat of Council intervention.

Rockwell had been one of the original World Security Council members, and both of his children had been highly-decorated SHIELD agents. It was so annoying to learn that his daughter's child was set on bringing SHIELD down. Renee was a fresh graduate from a two-year university and not even 21. She wasn't even old enough to drink and she had already caused SHIELD as much trouble as Loki.

"You know," Renee said as she stirred her tea with her straw idly. "If you gave me back my security clearance for SHIELD then I would stop pestering your agents."

Romanoff fixed her with a stern glare. "You lost your security clearance when you revealed to the world about the Battle of Puente Antiguo and SHIELD's prior knowledge of aliens before the Chitauri. I can assure you that you will never get that clearance back, granddaughter of Mr. Rockwell or not."

Renee finished off her tea, and glared at Romanoff through her blue-wire rim glasses. The rectangular lenses caught the light as she tilted her head up to get the last bit of her tea. Romanoff didn't even understand why Renee wore those glasses since her vision was already 20/20. When she had asked at some point Renee had said once that it made her look more like a real reporter – whatever that meant.

Renee set the glass down a little loudly on the table, and picked up her sandwich. Before she took a bite she told Romanoff that, "if that's all then you might as well leave. There's nothing for me to do but finish up my sandwich and go back to the office."

Being a third-generation SHIELD agent (even though it was formerly), Renee Grayson was as good at hiding her intentions and reading others just as Romanoff was. Romanoff always had trouble reading her. The frustration reminded her of her attempt at reading Loki's intentions when he had been a prisoner on the Helicarrier. She had managed to get the truth only because he had let his anger take over. Renee knew better then to do that, but the similarity was still troubling.

Renee swallowed her bite of sandwich and glared at Romanoff with her pale blue eyes. "Why are you still here? You've already spoiled me of my attempt at a story. Make yourself scarce and go chase down some Chitauri black marketers like the rest of SHIELD is doing."

Romanoff almost groaned. _How_ did Renee know about the black market? She supposed that by now she shouldn't be surprised considering that Renee was a member, if not the outright founder, of the hacktivist group _Rising Tide_. One month butting heads with Renee was one month too long, and Romanoff did indeed leave before Renee could start pestering her for another comment.

Renee swallowed her sandwich and waved down a waiter to refill her tea. The waiter came and refilled it. When he walked away, Renee sighed and slowly put her phone and notebook back into the purse sitting by her feet. It seemed that she wasn't going to be getting a good scoop after all.

Someone sat at the table across from her, and Renee looked up in surprise. Was Romanoff back? No, it was a woman she had never seen. The woman was very beautiful with long ink-black pulled back in a ponytail and angular storm gray eyes. Her skin tone said she was Asian, but her eyes looked Egyptian, and her facial features belonged to several European countries. She didn't look any older then Renee.

"Hello," Renee greeted the stranger politely.

"Hello Mrs. Grayson," the woman said.

Renee frowned. "Look, if you're another SHIELD agent then you can leave. Romanoff already gave me an earful and stopped the information handoff. Your precious secrets are safe."

The woman laughed quietly, a quiet laugh that sounded almost like a purr. "I am not SHIELD. I have simply read your articles."

"Oh," Renee felt herself blush for revealing that she had just spoken with Romanoff. What a slip of information! "I'm sorry. Who are you then? Rather, what can I do for you?"

"You may call me Mira," the mysterious woman introduced.

Mira held out her hand to shake hands with Renee, and Renee did so out of habit. She felt the weight of something being transferred from Mira's hand to her own. Renee knew better than to open her hand and look at it. From what she could feel, it seemed like a flashdrive.

"I think you will find that somewhat enlightening," Mira promised Renee.

Was there information about the recent chaos at Puente Antiguo on the flashdrive? Renee crossed her arms casually on the table and leaned forward to get a better look at this "Mira." Mira's emotions were so perfectly controlled that Renee couldn't discern anything.

"Thank you," Renee said.

She'd see about enlightening herself. SHIELD had switched the flashdrive of her second informer with one that had a virus on it. The virus had crashed her computer. Renee would have to check every file on an independent computer before she put her laptop at risk again with this flashdrive.

Renee looked up from her sandwich to ask "Mira" something, and jumped when she saw that Mira was gone. The chair was pushed in and everything. Quickly, Renee scanned her surroundings but there was no sign of Mira. It was as if she never existed.

The weight of the flashdrive in her hand was real at least, and Renee supposed that was all that mattered. She finished up her sandwich and waved down the waiter for her bill.

* * *

"Mira" walked along the street away from the Café where she had left the human and into a nearby library. There she was to meet a contact with one of the human organizations Karr had assigned her to help. She prowled around the books for a few minutes before reaching the right stack. Idly, she let her fingers trail on the spines of the books near her.

"Did you do it?" Someone standing on the opposite side of the bookshelf asked quietly as they pretended to be looking at books.

"The reporter has the information," Mira promised. "I suspect she'll publish it as soon as possible."

"Well done Mira," the human said cheerfully. "That should give SHIELD something to think about."

Mira knit her eyebrows together when she heard her alias. It annoyed her, but she supposed she couldn't go around using her real name.

"This cloak and dagger nonsense is boring," Mira muttered truthfully. "When will we go into battle? I miss killing."

Her contact chuckled. "Soon enough Mira. SHIELD will fall and there will be killing enough to satisfy even you when our sleeper agents awaken."

Mira made another face at her slurred name as she muttered threateningly. "It better."

"Hail Hydra," her contact from HYDRA whispered and walked away.

Mira gave a tsk as he left. HYDRA was so brazen, giving their salute in a public place. Just because they had SHIELD filled with their sleeper agents they thought they already ruled the world. Their plan of feeding Renee information was sound however. It would keep SHIELD busy looking at the outside world and their eyes away from their own ranks and the enemies within.

The usefulness of an alias was obvious, but Mira still hated hiding behind it. She was no human, and her name was not Mira. In reality, _Mira_ was Nira of Vanaheim.

* * *

 **Now you see why i went off on a little tangent last chapter about Nira? She's here, following Karr's orders. You might already know that Karr is an alias and what his real name is, but you might now. Nira is a reoccurring villain in my stories, and i really love her. Hopefully you'll agree with me that she's an amazing villain in due time.**

 **Yeah, the HYDRA Uprising happens in my stories. It doesn't happen like it does in the movie, but it does happen.**

 **Renee Grayson is your stereotypical reporter, and she has caused SHIELD so much trouble.**


	5. A New Case

It was pouring rain outside that evening, and Andrew Mills was glad that his mother had made him bring an umbrella. He wished that his coach had cancelled soccer practice, but Hardy Middle School had an empty indoor gym that his coach had moved the team into to practice drills.

Lightning flashed across the sky like white fire, and Andrew jumped as it was echoed by a huge clap of thunder a moment later. He stepped back further into the covered METRO bus stop. His bus pass was clenched in one hand.

Finally, the bus showed up and Andrew happily climbed aboard after shaking off his umbrella. He swiped his pass, and the bus driver gave Andrew a kind nod. He was used to seeing the twelve year old take the bus on Monday nights.

Andrew took a seat by a window and set his umbrella on the floor. The white interior lights of the bus illuminated him as he ruffled around for his backpack and fished out his Nintendo DS. He opened the top and started to play Mario Kart while he waited out the twenty minute bus ride to his neighborhood.

"Meadow Way," the bus driver called out twenty minutes later.

Andrew hit pause and quickly closed the DS and stuffed it back into his backpack. He picked up that, his bag of gear, and his umbrella. With a quick goodbye, he opened the umbrella and hopped off the bus onto the sidewalk. There was still a seven-minute walk in the rain ahead of him before he got home.

His watch – thankfully water resistant – beeped, and Andrew tugged up the sleeve of his jacket to see that it was 8pm. Why did practice always go late? There was no one on the street but him, and it was a little eerie. He hummed the theme song from _Power Rangers_ to distract himself and started walking.

Ahead of him, footsteps splashed through a puddle. Andrew was three minute from his street, but would get no further. The person who walked through the puddle stood under streetlight.

Andrew blinked in surprise since he didn't recognize the person. Who was it? The person had long and greasy brown hair that hid his features. His clothes were black boots, black pants, and a long-sleeve shirt that looked more like a tunic from medieval time.

He's dressed like an Asgardian Andrew realized in excitement. Was he going to get to meet an Asgardian like Thor? That was so cool! His wild theory suddenly became credible when he realized that despite the pouring rain and lack of an umbrella, the man did not have a single drop of water on him. Asgardians could use magic, right?

"Hello," Andrew called out cheerfully.

The person paused and looked up at him. Andrew felt a little chill go down his spine when he saw the washed out, lifeless yellow of the person's eyes. There was a hiss sound as the person shifted his right arm and dragged the tip of a sword against the cement. A sword? A sword!

"Cadet," the person greeted.

Andrew blinked. "Cadet? You must be confused. I'm not in JROTC. I just play soccer."

"Cadet," the person repeated and stepped out of the spotlight.

Andrew tried to take a step back, but found that his legs wouldn't move. He looked down and tried to jerk his feet to move, but they wouldn't budge. It wasn't from fear, but rather magic. Suddenly scared, Andrew looked up at the person and was suddenly caught in his yellow eyes. Against his will, he felt his muscles relaxing.

He opened his mouth to scream and suddenly the person was in front of him with unnatural speed, and the sword was resting against his throat. Runes were engraved along the length of the blade and gold decorated the hilt.

"Shh!" The visitor scolded. "If you scream Loki will hear you. He'll throw me back in the dungeon again, and I only just escaped. I don't want to go back to the dungeon."

Dungeon? Andrew thought fearfully.

The yellow-eyed mage smiled as his spell took hold, and the boy's will slipped away from him under his gaze. Andrew's brown eyes changed color to a dull yellow devoid of the sparkle of intelligence. The boy's will was now suspended. One cadet down, and four to go.

Try and catch me this time Loki. This time I – Dalkr – will win!

* * *

Angborn finished his sequence of moves, breathing hard. Even though he had only been dead for a few hours before Hel had resurrected him he could still feel the strain of lifelessness. He relaxed his stance, and went to get a cup of water.

The habit of practicing a pre-choreographed sequence of moves was one adopted from Tilaria. He did two such "form dances" every day, a short one in the morning when he woke up and a longer one at night just before he took a shower and went to bed. It was unfortunate that he didn't have his sword.

The water was refreshing, and he downed the cup as he headed back to the bathroom. With his morning's warmup finished he took a quick shower to wash the sweat from his body and then headed to the bedroom where the extra clothes SHIELD had provided were.

His new clothes were human in nature, and Angborn got dressed with a quiet sigh. He already missed being in uniform, but unfortunately it hadn't survived the battle with Chthon. Wearing black and green like Loki always did might also prompt some SHIELD officer to make the connection between the two of them and Angborn did not wish for that to happen yet. Once he was dressed he replaced the furniture that he had moved to make room for his form dance.

Someone knocked on his door, and Angborn instinctively lowered a hand to where his sword had been before realizing that he didn't have his sword anymore. Why did he have to throw it at Odin? Hold, he scolded himself. This was Midgard, and he didn't need a sword to deal with humans. He walked forward and opened the door, revealing it was Jane.

"Milady," Angborn greeted her and tipped his head in a bow.

Jane nodded with a blush. She was not used to being treated as a princess. Thor had treated her like this, but she had thought it was something he had done just for her rather than a habit of all Asgaridans.

"I just wanted to tell you that SHIELD has allowed me to head back to my lab in New Mexico," Jane informed. "I've been working on a few projects, and I wanted to check to make sure that your battle with Loki didn't destroy my research."

"I forget how fragile things on this realm are," Angborn said apologetically.

"It's not your fault," Jane shrugged. "Loki's the one who attacked my lab to try and take me hostage when you and the other Star Guard came to bring him back to Asgard. How is your arm? Those vines of Loki's did some damage."

The lie she had told SHIELD still flowed smoothly off Jane's tongue.

"Fine milady," Angborn promised and stood, tipping his head in a bow. "We heal quickly."

"I'm glad to hear it," Jane smiled.

Angborn's door opened suddenly and Darcy poked her head out. "Hey Jane, did you see the news?"

"News?" Jane blinked curiously.

"Yep," Darcy chuckled. "They caught wind of 'Loki's Return.'"

"If you mean the fight at Puente Antiguo then it was hardly a return," Angobrn tssked, knowing it was safe to show some of his frustration.

"Still on the news," Darcy pointed out.

"Was it Renee Grayson again?" Jane sighed.

She fully expected a yes from Darcy. Renee Grayson was pest like that, and she had come to bother Jane multiple times already to try and get a good story.

"Nope," Darcy replied unexpectedly. "There's no word from her yet, but I bet SHIELD's not happy anyway."

"I bet they aren't," Jane realized. "No wonder SHIELD's shipping us back out to New Mexico so quickly. They want us to get all the sensitive information and retreat before the news reporters swamp the city like they did with New York."

That was the moment that the elevator at the end of the hallway chimed open and a SHIELD agent walked out.

"Mrs. Foster," he greeted when he saw the three of them in the hallway. "Are you ready to leave?"

The agent was surprised when Darcy burst out laughing.

"What did I say?" he asked innocently.

"Nothing," Jane promised him and shook her head. "We're ready."

The agent nodded and wisely decided to let the subject drop. He glanced at Angborn was a little surprised to recognize the Asgardian in human clothes.

"Angborn?" He asked, as if to make sure it really was the visitor.

"Yes,?" Angborn asked and glanced away from Jane and Darcy to him.

His eyes were polite, but blank of recognition as he looked at the agent. After a moment they brightened.

"You were the agent at Milady Foster's lab, weren't you?" Angborn asked. "Ward was it?"

"Grant Ward," Ward reintroduced himself without taking offense. "I'm going to be among the security group with these two."

Angborn nodded noncommittally, and then said softly. "Is there something for me to do? I'm not used to downtime, and I'm not sure when Coulson will return. Perhaps somewhere where I can train? My room isn't big enough."

Ward thought about it. "Actually, yeah. We've got a pretty big backyard. I don't know about a sparring partner though."

"That's alright," Angborn dismissed. "Would it be alright if I went there?"

"Sure," Ward shrugged after a moment. "It's not like you're a prisoner. I'll take you there after I drop these two off with the rest of the security detail."

"Thank you," Angborn said in relief.

He quickly went back into his room and put on the tennis shoes. When he opened the door again, Ward escorted the three of them to the elevator and gave the vocal orders to take them to ground level. Angborn forced himself to relax as the elevator started moving down.

It seemed to take far too long for the elevator to go down the nine floors to ground level. Wisely, Ward didn't comment on Angborn's skittishness. Angborn was very grateful when the elevator opened and Ward led them out of it.

There was another agent present, and Ward talked with her for a moment before leaving Jane and Darcy in her care and leading Angborn the other way. Angborn gave Jane a final bow, and followed Ward.

The bow caught the attention of several people there, including a young man waiting for Natasha to show up so he could give her a piece of his mind for the surveillance SHIELD had him under. He recognized the bow as a habit Thor had, and curiously walked after the two.

Ward led Angborn to the back of the building to a large grassy area where only a few SHIELD agents were sparring.

"From what Thor has told me, I would have thought there would be more agents," Angborn remarked curiously as he overlooked the mostly empty field.

"We're stretched thin dealing with the fallout from New York," Ward admitted.

The information was classified, but it would be obvious to anyone who walked into the building just how quiet and empty it was compared to normal.

"I need to catch up with the others," Ward said after a few seconds. "Can you find your way back to your room?"

Angborn chuckled and nodded. "That I can do."

Ward saluted as was respectful to a fellow soldier, and Angborn returned it with an Asgardian salute. Then Ward left. Angborn stood there watching the SHIELD agents present train for a few seconds until he became aware that someone was walking up behind him. He pretended he didn't notice until the man spoke.

"I recognize that salute," he said with light humor. "Are you here on Thor's orders?"

Angborn looked curiously at the human speaking to him. He was in his early twenties with blue eyes, blonde brown hair parted neatly, and a well-muscled figure.

"I suppose SHIELD officers are familiar with some Asgardian customs," Angborn said. "You sound as if you actually know Prince Thor however."

So he was Asgardian, he thought triumphantly.

"I served with him at New York. The name's Steve Rogers," he introduced.

"Angborn Eirillson," Angborn tipped his head in a bow out of respect. "Thor speaks highly of your military prowess. You were the leader of the Avengers team were you not?"

"Not officially," Rogers defended.

"But you gave Thor orders, and he obeyed them," Angborn replied. "I'm not sure which is more surprising."

Rogers chuckled. "What is an Asgardian doing here in human clothes?"

Angborn looked down at his new clothes in disdain. "My uniform was destroyed in battle."

"Battle?" Rogers voice suddenly became serious. "What battle?"

"The battle yesterday morning," Angborn exemplified. "With Loki."

"Loki's back?" Rogers said as he tensed.

"He escaped from his execution," Angborn explained before the Captain went off to get his shield. "You needn't worry. I was among the away team from Asgard that recapture him at New Mexico. Loki is safely back in Asgardian custody."

"Execution, huh?" Rogers mused. "Serves him right for killing Coulson."

"Phil Coulson?" Angborn queried innocently.

"Yeah," Rogers said darkly. "Loki killed him just before New York. An execution sounds like just what he deserves."

"Loki didn't-" Angborn defended suddenly and sharply, fed up with SHIELD. He took a breath at Roger's surprised look and repeated calmly. "Loki didn't kill Coulson."

"Uh, yes he did." Rogers disagreed. "Didn't Thor tell you about that?"

"He did," Angborn assured the human, "but I saw Coulson yesterday."

"You what?" Rogers asked louder then he intended.

"Loki damaged Bifrost when he escaped, and I'm stranded here until it is repaired," Angborn explained slowly. "While I'm here, I figured I might as well help out SHIELD. Coulson's been assigned my Senior Officer. He was questioning me about the battle."

"Coulson is alive," Rogers demanded.

"Yes," Angborn repeated. "Thor told me he was deceased as well, and I did get something of a surprise when I realized that he was not."

"Fury, that bastard," Rogers swore. "He told us Coulson was dead. Do the other Avengers about this?"

"Romanoff was monitoring my debrief with Coulson yesterday," Angborn offered.

Rogers sighed and shook his head in frustration. "Leave it to SHIELD. Hey, do you want to come with me?"

"Now?" Angborn asked in surprise.

"I was going to talk to Natasha but I think it's best if I wait until I cool off a little," Rogers said tensely. "If I stay, I might start something."

"Sure," Angborn shrugged.

"Didn't SHIELD tell you to stay here?" Rogers asked, surprised by Angborn's sudden surrender.

"They did," Angborn agreed.

Rogers gave a half-smile and the two of them walked back through the lobby and out of the building. No sooner did the doors close behind them then did Romanoff finally walk out into the lobby. She looked around for Steve, and was surprised to see that he wasn't here. Hadn't he wanted to talk to her?

With a shrug, she walked back the way she came to speak to Coulson. Natasha still hadn't forgiven Fury for lying to her about Coulson. She had only just found out now when she had been asked to supervise Angborn's questioning. Worse, Fury had forbid her from telling Clint that Coulson was still alive. Maybe now would be a good time to speak to Fury about his decision to keep them in the dark.

* * *

 **Yep. Dalkr is officially on the loose on Midgard. Worse, SHIELD is a little understaffed so I don't know if they have the manpower to deal with him. Fel, that's assuming they realize what Dalkr's doing before he gets the other four kills he needs.**


	6. An Unwelcome Report

On Romanoff's way up to Fury's office she made a stop to see if there were any new case files for her to distract herself with. There were the basic reports of murders and robberies, but one caught her attention. She leaned forward and looked closer at the file.

Apparently, a twelve year-old boy had been murdered. The cause of death was a cut to the neck and subsequent blood loss. His body had been crucified to a tree in a nearby park, and blood had been painted in a design around the tree. It looked ritualistic, and SHIELD's area of expertise had suddenly been expanded to dealing with magic in the wake of New York. Did this have something to do with magic?

She memorized the child's name, Andrew Mills, for future reference. Natasha still didn't believe that magic existed, but if nothing else this was a murder. The information was filed away in her mind and she resumed the elevator ride up to Fury's office at the top of the Triskelion.

The elevator chimed and Natasha walked briskly across the tile to where Fury sat at his desk.

"Sir," she started.

Before she could say another word, Fury slid an ICER across his desk to her without looking up from his paperwork. Romanoff looked at it, and then at Fury. She wasn't allowed to carry an ICER with her for security purposes, and was currently disarmed.

"You seem upset enough to need that," Fury said with a shrug without looking up.

Romanoff looked at the ICER, and then at Fury. "There's no bullet cartridge."

"I wasn't sure how upset you were," Fury said innocently.

Romanoff was not in the mood. "Why didn't you tell me about Coulson sooner? I find out a month after New York that he's alive. The only reason I know is because we're so short-handed that I got stuck with surveillance for Angborn yesterday since I was between missions."

Fury finally looked up. "You and the rest of the Avengers weren't a team. The six of you were too busy fighting each other to fight Loki. Coulson's death united you, and it made you a team. It was necessary. Don't tell me it was a bad idea. Coulson is still upset with me dipping his Captain America card collection in blood."

He shook his head and sighed. Natasha suddenly felt upset. The thing that bothered Fury most was Coulson's pestering about his card collection?

"Why won't you let me inform Agent Barton?" She asked tensely.

"Agent Barton is on a mission," Fury informed her in a businesslike tone. "He can hardly afford the distraction. When his mission is done then you can tell him about Coulson's survival."

Natasha was surprised that Fury had given her permission. "I can sir?"

"He's going to find out about it anyway now that Coulson is back in the field," Fury shrugged.

Fury wanted Natasha to tell Barton because he didn't want to do it and deal with Barton's frustration. That much was obvious. He always had another angle.

"By the way," Fury added. "A new mission just came in. Another terrorist group has their soldiers on Chitauri tech. Syria this time. I need you to deal with situation."

"Now?" Natasha asked in surprise. "I've been running around since I told Renee off yesterday."

"We're short on agents as you know Agent Romanoff," Fury replied in a chiding tone that did not improve Natasha's mood.

"If you keep this up then there aren't going to be any agents left at the Triskelion," Romanoff warned. "What if something unexpected happens and the Triskelion falls under attack?"

"That's what our Asgardian friend is for," Fury told her. "Rogers is also in the city, and there are other SHIELD agents here. We might have less than ideal, but we'll all just have to deal with it."

"How many agents are accompanying me?" Natasha asked.

"None," Fury said. "We don't have any to spare."

"None?" Romanoff repeated sharply.

"There are SHIELD agents currently working with local militias," Fury promised her. "You'll rendezvous with them."

"When do I leave?" Natasha asked in frustration.

"As soon as the Quinjet is fueled up." That was Fury's way of saying she had ten minutes to get changed into her combat gear, and head straight to the hanger. "They'll be a tablet with your briefing information available on the jet."

"Very well sir," Romanoff said reluctantly.

Fury nodded dismissal, and she left briskly and frustrated. Her emotions were so bad that her frustration was etched very obviously on her face. If only Romanoff understood the situation SHIELD was in. Dealing with the media and world governments was a hassle enough without tracking down the aftershock from New York. As it stood, so many agents were deployed that the Triskelion and every other SHIELD base were practically defenseless. He truly hoped that nothing would happen until things calmed down, but knew how slim the chances of that were. That was where Angborn came in.

He tapped on his desk to open a phone line. "Send Angborn up to my office, I want to speak with him."

"I'd like to sir," the voice on the other end replied, "but he's not here."

"What do you mean he's not here?" Fury asked.

His tone made the agent cringe. "I mean he's left the Triskelion with Steve Rogers. We're tracking them now. Do you want us to dispatch someone to bring them back?"

Dispatch who? With Romanoff on a mission, security over Jane and her lab, and the general chaos there was no one that they could send.

"No," Fury relented. "Just track them. The moment Angborn returns I want him sent up to my office, understand? I don't care if it's 2am. Send him up."

"Yes sir," the voice replied and Fury shut down the phone.

Damn. Now he didn't even have the Asgardian to help.

An incoming message chimed, and Fury stared at the icon when he realized it was a message from the World Security Council. Why were they calling? They weren't supposed to call until Tuesday. Then Fury realized it was Tuesday.

He glared at the icon, wanting to hang up. That was not the wisest course of action however, so he stopped his work and hit accept. Images of the World Security Council were projected into the room and black out shades were drawn over the windows. Just when he thought this day couldn't get any worse…

"Council," Fury greeted them and stood. He walked in front of his desk.

"Fury," Councilman Rockwell took the lead. "I hope your report is more favorable then the last one."

"You should know by now that I can't control the events of the world," Fury argued, "though SHIELD does try."

"Trying is not enough," Councilwoman Hawley chided.

"Especially not when classified files are being continually leaked to the public," Councilman Yen agreed.

"We patched up the media leak yesterday," Fury promised.

"That's what you said about stopping Renee Grayson the last two times," Hawley huffed.

Rockwell glanced over at Hawley at the mention of his granddaughter with some annoyance. "I do not approve of Renee's actions, however I would expect SHIELD to be better prepared to deal with her."

Maybe if you told the girl to stop or gave us permission to take steps against her then something might actually get done, Fury thought to Rockwell crossly.

"Why don't you tell us about the battle with Loki," Rockwell implored changing the subject.

Fury had been studying the report so he was prepared for it. He wished he hadn't been kept so busy that he hadn't been able to make a real report for his Council watchdogs.

"Yesterday morning at 4:37 am we received a distress call from astrophysicists Jane Foster," Fury relayed. "We picked her up in Puente Antiguo at 6:27 am. At 6:40 we entered Jane Foster's lab to investigate. Her lab was in ruins from a fierce battle. According to information from Jane Foster the perpetrator was Loki of Asgard from New York."

"So he did come back," Yen said darkly.

"Loki had escaped from his incarceration on Asgard and was fleeing from a group of Asgardian soldiers trying to recapture him," Fury continued. "He attempted to take Jane Foster as a hostage, but she was freed by the Asgardians. She and Darcy ran to town where she called us on the cellphone we had given her earlier."

"Why was there such a delay between the time of her call and you getting to her location?" Rockwell asked.

"The closest SHIELD base we have to Puente Antiguo is the one in Los Angeles," Fury explained. "When Jane said that Loki was involved we believed he was returning in a full-scale attack as he did at New York. It took time to gather up soldiers and get to the location."

"Why did it take so long to gather a force?" Rockwell asked.

As if you don't know, Fury thought. "With the fallout from New York and Chitauri technology falling into the wrong hands SHIELD has been stretched thin."

"As for the events afterwards," Fury continued. "Loki was recaptured by Asgard and taken back. He escaped during his execution, and my guess is that they are going to reschedule it as quickly as possible."

"How do you know that Loki is back in Asgardian custody and not still hiding on Earth?" Hawley demanded.

"One of the Asgardian soldiers chasing down Loki was left behind by Asgard," Fury tried to explain calmly. "From his report, the portal that allows Asgard to travel between worlds was damaged by Loki. He believes that the damage has rendered it inoperable, and he is currently stranded here. I had him brought to the Triskelion where he gave us a report of the events. That was yesterday."

"Where is he now?" Hawley asked, barely giving Fury a chance to finish his sentence.

"His name is Angborn Eirillson," Fury continued as if she hadn't spoken up. "He recently left the Triskelion and is currently with Steve Rogers in the capital."

The three council members looked at each other in surprise by the announcement.

"I think I speak for everyone when I say are you crazy?" Rockwell demanded Fury. "You just let this-this Angborn run around the capitol unchecked? Who is to say that he isn't an ally of Loki?"

"From the information we have been able to gather." _What little there is,_ Fury grumbled silently. "Angborn is not an enemy. He is simply stuck on Midgard while the portal is being repaired. He has already offered to be of assistance to SHIELD should the need arise just as Thor helped us at New York."

Fury purposely reminded them that one of the Avengers was an alien. If this conversation continued on its current train of thought then Angborn could end up in a cell. The council was skittish of betrayal by the aliens after Loki and the Chitauri as many were.

"Why was he left behind at all?" Yen asked curiously. "Why didn't Asgard take him back with Loki?"

Fury decided not to mention the fact that Angborn had been unconscious, and so hadn't actually _seen_ Asgard take Loki back into custody.

"The Asgardians were trying to capture Loki," he reminded them instead. "The moment they had him in custody they returned to Asgard before he could escape again."

"And the reason the Bifrost has not been used to take him back home is?" Rockwell asked.

Fury repeated himself. "Loki had damaged the Bifrost before he left Asgard. It was patched up to send a squadron after him, but they could not fully repair the damage. The Bifrost couldn't sustain the return trip, and until it is fully repaired it will be offline."

"How do you know this for a fact?" Hawley asked curiously.

"I don't," Fury replied. "But that is Angborn's best idea and since he's the Asgardian he would know best about that."

The council members exchanged another dubious look.

"What is important," Fury replied. "Is that until the Bifrost is repaired we have an Asgardian soldier on Earth willing to help us smooth things out."

"Were you planning on giving him security clearance to secret missions?" Yen asked jokingly.

"Yes as a matter of fact," Fury agreed. "Having an Asgardian helping us will make our efforts to bring peace to Earth after New York much easier. I was hardly going to give him Level Ten Clearance, but I saw no reason to let him lounge around with nothing to do."

"Are you sure it is wise to give an alien access?" Rockwell asked cautiously.

"As an Avenger, Thor has Level Seven clearance," Fury reminded the council. "There's no better way to get Angborn to show his true colors – one way or another – then to put him in the field of battle. He's an Asgardian. From what I've seen they're as close to gods as we're going to get. His help could be crucial."

"I think it might be better not to," Hawley recommended.

"Agreed," Rockwell said. "Until we know for sure if he is a friend of Thor or Loki."

"It is better not to risk it with an alien," Yen agreed.

"SHIELD is understaffed and at its limit," Fury argued.

"SHIELD is becoming stronger," Rockwell argued.

"I am working with Alexander Pierce to develop a stronger role for SHIELD," Fury agreed. "That takes time and it's only been a month since the order was given. We've been too busy fixing Earth. The sooner we deal with the Chitauri tech users the more resources we can divert for _Project Insight_."

The reminder of _Project Insight_ helped quiet the council.

"The Asgardian is here," Rockwell said cautiously, "but he will not get security clearance."

"He could very likely be a threat to security as Loki was," Hawley agreed.

"After all," Yen finished. "He's not even human."

"You aren't to trust him with SHIELD information or operations as it could very well endanger the agents," Rockwell finished up.

Fury stared at the three council members. They weren't serious! To have an Asgardian like Thor helping would lessen the strain on the remaining human agents. Loki had done it by attacking New York all right. The council was too scared of a repeat of New York by trusting an alien.

"If I may say," Fury said bluntly. "That is a stupid ass decision. You want me to make SHIELD stronger, but you won't let me use the resources available. Angborn could be a foe, but he could also be a friend. If you treat him like an enemy then he's liable to act like one. Let's not turn Asgard against us."

"Our decision is made," Rockwell said. "The Asgardian will be kept at the Triskelion in a controlled environment until we can be certain if he's friend or foe."

"That sounds as brilliant as your decision to nuke New York," Fury replied sarcastically.

That earned him a group of unpleasant glares, but Fury didn't apologize.

"Now, tell us about the rest of the report." Hawley probed.

Fury sighed and reluctantly continued. This really wasn't his day.

* * *

 **As a note, Angborn is not the main character of this story so much as a secondary character helping SHIELD and the humans. The story is not about him. Most OC-centered stories are duds, and i'd rather not ruin your reading experience with something like that because i'm not sure i could manage a good OC-centered fanfiction. The whole point of fanfictions isn't to make OC's, it's to expand the story of preexisting characters.**

 **As you can tell, this story takes place before the HYDRA Uprising which may or may not be rescheulded or replanned depending on events here.**


	7. The First Body

Dalkr walked calmly down a street in Washington DC, ominous grey clouds obscuring the blue sky. Many humans on the street with him were scurrying around, trying to finish up their errands or make their way home before it rained. Not a single one of them recognized him as Dalkr the Cadet Killer of Asgard. All he had needed to do was break into a hotel room, take a hot shower, and change his clothes using the supplies in the room littered with brown longneck bottles that stank of alcohol. There hadn't been a human to kill, but that was a minor disappointment at best.

In the past, one could walk around with a sword on your side and it would be considered normal, but now Dalkr had to put an invisibility weave over it. He actually didn't know how to speak the human language of this nation, there being an innumerable amount on Earth while other realms had just one united language, so he kept quiet and relayed on a translator charm to translate their words into Allspeak. A pair of sunglasses he had taken from the room hid the yellow of his eyes so he didn't have to waste magic. It was all so terribly easy, laughingly so.

Currently he was on his way to find a second cadet to kill. Where there was one cadet, Dalkr knew there would have to be another. He needed their blood for his ritual, and currently had just one of the five lifebloods necessary to complete it.

Loki had stopped him from obtaining the lifeblood of the fifth cadet back on Asgard, but he didn't know Dalkr was here this time. These humans had no concept of magic – didn't even believe it existed – so Dalkr had nothing to fear. The Marauder Dalkr had stopped earlier had told him Loki and Angborn were on Midgard, something Dalkr actually looked forward to proving. Once his ritual was complete he'd be able to kill them both and many more, and of course, the threat of the civilian lives would bring Loki running to him as he attempted to stop him.

Dalkr chuckled and tucked his hands into the pockets of the black flight jacket he had stolen from the closet to avoid resting a hand on the pommel of his invisible sword. That would draw some strange looks and he was trying to keep a low profile. He was thinking about this, and wasn't paying attention to the path in front of him.

He bumped into a woman with long-black hair pulled back in a low ponytail accidently, and Dalkr glanced at her crossly. She glanced at him as well, flint grey eyes flashing in irritation at being interrupted, and the two looked at each other for a second. Neither said anything as they recognized each other. Dalkr and Nira just looked at each other in equal surprise, each wondering what the other was doing on Midgard.

Nira recovered first, having more extensive training, and she said with a polite smile, "excuse me sir."

Dalkr wasn't sure what she was doing here, but she evidently had plans of her own just as he did. Interfering with her would hamper his efforts, and as long as she didn't try to stop him then Dalkr had no feud with Nira. He tipped his head in acknowledgment and the two carried on their way.

Nira was a great deal more excited than Dalkr about their brief confrontation, and it was almost impossible for her to suppress her triumphant grin. She knew that Dalkr was a black cell member, and his escape excited her. Chthon had told her about freeing the black cell members he had groomed to cause havoc and give Thanos, the mortal he "served" under the alias The Other, an opening to topple the realms. Thanos had an opening already, but he had failed at New York so this would be his second chance.

She remembered the first night after she had killed her mother and other sister and failed to take the crown by her father and Asgard. Her two younger siblings, Vör, now queen, and Hogun, her only brother, had survived with her father. Nira's claim had been ruined, and she had been forced to flee.

Chthon had spoken to Nira that first night after Nira, exhausted from fleeing, finally collapsed into sleep. He had said he was impressed by her skill and determination, and two had gone over and around talking about the day's events and Nira's thoughts. She had been jovial to find that Chthon agreed in Nira's drastic actions.

He had offered that if she helped him for a time and helped him then he could present her with Vanaheim's crown and a Chitauri Legion to serve her as her own army. She wasn't sure what to do, aware that she would be hunted down, so she had accepted. His interference had saved her life, and once she spoke to him, decided it might be fun to serve under him as his general.

Nira smiled at Chthon's promise that he would start Ragnarök, and afterwards Nira would rule the realms under his discretion. She would be queen of not just Vanaheim, but of all the realms. It was tantalizing beyond belief.

Ragnarök was known as the "Twilight of the Gods" in Norse mythology, and it signaled the Germanic equivalent of the Apocalypse and Armageddon. Unlike common myths though, Ragnarök would be brought about by the Chitauri. They were the ones who would destroy everything and rebuild it under their command. Nira wondered idly why the Chitauri were so fixated on ruling the Nine Realms, but supposed they had a good reason for it, whatever it was.

Ragnarök was initially supposed to happen shortly after Loki had murdered his cousin Baldur with a mistletoe arrow and been trapped in a black cell for his crime. Nira had been minutes from retrieving Loki and bringing him to Chthon until the Raven Blades proved Baldur had been planning to kill Thor – thus Loki had killed his murderous cousin to save his brother. Baldur's plan had been to pin Thor's death on Loki, and would have gone from third in line for the throne to first. He had even blinded his younger brother Hodr to ensure he would be Asgard's only heir in the end, and thus the next Allfather.

After a month shackled in the black cell with the venom of a basilisk dripping on him, Loki had been pardoned. She would have brought him to the Chitauri and he would have returned besides Nira as the Chitauri's general to destroy the realms, but their first plan at enacting Ragnarök had been thwarted. Nira had been infuriated, but had bided her time as Chthon advised her to do over the centuries. Nira had put her faith in him and carried out his duty, causing mayhem and raising strife and mistrust between the realms so they would not help each other.

After centuries, they had been ready to try Ragnarök again. 30 years ago, shortly after the end of the First Celestial War, Nira had taken a more direct approach and taken control of the weakened and war-torn Asgard. Asgard was going to be used as a base for the Chitauri to start Ragnarök and Loki brought to the Chitauri then, but Tilaria had stopped her this time. The blood mage had overwhelmed Nira's rune magic long enough for Loki to slip free and her to be driven off. Thus ended the Chitauri's second attempt to take control.

The third attempt last year after Loki had fallen from Bifrost had been more successful. With Tilaria gone and the Raven Blades on Vanaheim dealing with Nira during Thor's failed coronation, Loki had done exactly what he was supposed to do. He had pledged himself to the Chitauri and New York had been invaded. The Chitauri would have used New York as their foothold to begin Ragnarök, their triumph.

But the plan had been stopped by Loki's own sabotage and the Avengers he had allowed to defeat him. Chthon had told her not to worry too much and that he had another plan. The black cell prisoners, like Dalkr, had been magically and genetically augmented into supersoldiers. Their release and the subsequent chaos would be the opening for Ragnarök, and Dalkr was free. They were no longer quite mortal, and hadn't aged since their incarceration, but gotten younger and fitter so they were the same age as Loki or Thor. Reverse aging was no longer a mythical magic.

Nira understood her assignment here on Midgard better now. Chthon couldn't leave Chitauri Space freely so he needed her to carry out the final details of Ragnarök. This time they would surely be successful. After all, Loki and the realms would have to stop them _every_ time, but the Chitauri only had to succeed _once_. She wasn't far from getting her crown.

With the new knowledge, her steps lightened. Working with pesky alien hate groups like the Earth Defense Force, and more dangerous organizations like HYDRA was no longer a chore. It was steps to a plan, and Nira knew that when Dalkr completed his ritual, this entire state would be devastated.

The Chitauri would have the perfect base to begin Ragnarök. This would actually be better than making Loki launch an invasion force against New York because this time, the location would already be defeated. All she had to do was wait because Nira knew that there were no Raven Blades on Midgard to stop her, or Dalkr, this time.

* * *

Angborn sneezed, and Rogers said bless you respectfully. The Asgardian nodded and rubbed his nose.

"Someone must be talking about you," Rogers teased.

Angborn was aware of the odd human idea, and so merely nodded. "I would rather it be that then be getting sick."

"You get sick?" Rogers asked curiously.

Angborn seemed amused by Rogers' misconception, and nodded brightly. "It doesn't happen often to us, but occasionally we do get sick. Not even the self-appointed gods of the Nine Realms can escape _the wrath of the common cold_."

He made his voice spooky and terrified when he spoke the last few words, and Rogers laughed at his light humor. Only an hour had passed since he had left SHIELD's Triskelion in a fury, almost hissing at the fact Fury had hid the fact Coulson had survived from him. Despite the cultural differences, Angborn was a fellow soldier, and understood Rogers on a level a spy like Fury didn't.

Angborn had mentioned that he had been on Earth during World War 2, but he had quieted instantly afterwards. Rogers guessed that the information had to be classified, but he had no idea why. It did prove that he was having to adapt to the seventy year change just like Rogers was, and Rogers was glad that someone understood what he was having to adapt to. There was quite a bit of common ground between them, and Rogers let himself relax. He had even managed to coax the fact that Angborn had a sweetheart back on Asgard out of him, although he hadn't managed to get her name yet.

Angborn coughed deeply from his diaphragm, covering his mouth with his sleeve and then growled softly, "What a time to get sick."

"Just don't make me sick," Rogers teased him.

"I'll try not to," Angborn said dryly and dropped his arm to his side. "I think part of it might be because I'm not used to the air. The sheer amount of pollution makes it hard to breath. It's hard to believe Earth has dissolved so much in seventy years. Our people count time by decades, age by centuries. For something to change so quickly in less than a century… it is astounding."

"Agreed," Rogers sighed, aware that this was one of the aspects of the modern Earth he disliked. "On Earth being different. I don't know about Asgard stuff."

Rogers got an idea on how to help Angborn, and actually started to walk to a destination instead of wandering around DC, motioning Angborn to follow him. He wanted to ask Angborn why he had been on Midgard during World War 2 and if he had been allied with the either of the superpowers, Allied or Axis, or if he was allied at all. Angborn had quieted so quickly after mentioning his deployment there that Rogers felt it wasn't his place to ask, and he was secretly a little worried about what Angborn would say.

A warm breeze caught pieces of trash and leaves and sent them circling amid the air. It was a muggy June day, and the sky was thick with storm clouds. Rogers wouldn't mind if it started raining as he led Angborn into the parking lot of one of DC's parks as the rain would cool them down. This park had many walking trails, so it was thick with trees.

"Forestry," Angborn murmured when he saw the park, brown eyes lighting up in appreciating.

Rogers let Angborn take the lead and walk along one of the paths. The trees helped muffle the sounds of the cars, and there were rustles of undergrowth from wildlife and the flap of feathery wings. It was a relief to Angborn, and he exhaled in relief at the familiarity.

"Does this remind you of home?" Rogers asked.

"A little," Angborn admitted. "There are no forests within the city of Asgard, but several surround it. I used to go into the forest all the time to get away from the noise and bustle of the capital, but it is nowhere near as chaotic as your 'big city.'"

"Washington DC is the capital of the United States," Rogers chuckled. "I'm still amazed by how much it changed."

"Agreed," Angborn smiled. "This city was far smaller when I last came."

"You were in DC?" Rogers asked suddenly.

Angborn went quiet again, confirming Rogers' guess that it was classified. He didn't bush Angborn, but was still curious what had happened. Suddenly Angborn stopped walking, and Rogers almost bumped into him.

"I smell blood," Angborn said quietly.

"Blood?" Rogers straightened, flexing his hand as if to grasp the handles on his shield.

Angborn nodded, and the two of them silently walked closer to the smell of it. Rogers caught a whiff of iron just as they rounded a corner in the path. Both of them stopped walking at the sight that awaited them.

Police officers had the area taped off, and were working to collect evidence. One of the officers near them noticed their arrival and walked over. Neither of the soldiers noticed his approach, as they were both looking at the body in a tree. The body was that of a boy that couldn't be more then thirteen years old, and he was crucified to two of the tree's branches by a pair of kitchen knives that were embedded in his palms all the way to the hilts. His throat was cut deeply enough to the spine, although no blood stained his clothing. A runic symbol was carved into his right cheek, and blood painted his body, the tree in what appeared to be a ritualistic design. Blissfully, his eyes were closed.

Angborn took a step back, startled by the scene, and asked Rogers seriously, "What did we just walk into?"

"A murder scene," Rogers sighed, unable to take his eyes away from the young boy. "I don't know how it is on Asgard, but murders are common day here. It's almost become a natural part of life."

"I'm sorry sirs," one of the police officers told them. "This area is off limits."

"I understand," Rogers promised them.

He did not want to interfere with their work and accidently damage the evidence if it meant the psyco who had murdered the boy got away.

"Come on," he tapped Angborn's shoulder.

Angborn didn't move. His jaw was locked as he stared at the body. The symbol carved into the child's cheek was the Asgardian rune for the number one. Why was there an Asgardian rune on the body? A memory, suppressed previously, arose before his eyes.

He remembered back on Asgard when he and Loki had been the same age as this murdered boy. A serial killer that had been nicknamed the Cadet Killer had been on the loose, and he had taken the habit of numbering the cadets he killed by carving the rune onto their cheek. The sight of seeing an Asgardian cadet's body tied to the gate of the royal palace, as there had been once, had been startling. There was no way this could be possible, but this modus operandi matched Dalkr's from five centuries ago.

"Dalkr," Angborn whispered.

Rogers hesitated at the odd word. Was that the Asgardian word for murder?

Hel had said that Loki escaped Asgardian custody in a jailbreak, Angborn remembered. How many others escaped with him? It wasn't possible. Dalkr on Midgard? What was happening back home?

"Have there been any other bodies like this?" Angborn asked the officer with sudden urgency. "Please."

"I'm sorry," the officer replied calmly. "That information is classified."

"Have there been any others?" Angborn replied, breathing becoming shallower and quicker in panic.

His voice was sharper this time, and he clenched a hand into a fist. Subconsciously he shifted his weight back in preparation for a fight. Rogers put a hand on Angborn's shoulder to try and calm him before this became physical.

* * *

 _"The best way to draw out a killer is with bait," Loki had said centuries ago when Dalkr had been roaming around killing. He had been testing the sharpness of one of his blades as he said that._

 _Angborn shook his head as he sat on the edge of Loki's bed. His prince was deadest on taking down Dalkr. At that point in the investigation, Dalkr's identity was not known._

 _"What do you intend to use for bait?" Angborn had asked Loki patiently._

 _Loki didn't answer. In fact, he looked away with a little blush creeping to his cheeks._

 _"No," Angborn said flatly as he realized who Loki was going to use as bait. "You are one of Asgard's princes. You_ can't _be bait to catch this guy."_

 _"Angborn," Loki sighed as he replaced his dagger up his sleeve and turned to face his friend. "It's_ because _I'm Asgard's prince that I have to find this serial killer. Seven cadets have already been killed by him. I'm their prince so they're under_ my _protection. It's not fair for me to stay here when cadets are being killed."_

 _"How about just this once you not put everyone else before you?" Angborn pleaded._

 _Loki closed his eyes and wove a glamour. His appearance and outfit changed so he was unrecognizable. The black and green tunic was now a cadet's uniform._

 _"This Cadet Killer is a mage, Angborn," Loki reminded. "Who better to go after him then another mage?"_

 _"Loki," Angborn repeated. "You're a prince. Your life is not expendable no matter what the other boys say."_

 _"Dalkr is targeting cadets with magic," Loki explained. "I have magic and I'm the same age as a cadet. I'm the only one who can act as bait. Can you imagine his surprise when he catches me and realizes that I'm not just some weak-blooded cadet who can barely summon a witchlight, but a prince who's already to the level of an archmage?"_

 _The irritating part was that Loki had a point. Loki was the only Asgardian who not only fit the part but who was strong enough to win in a fight._

 _"The adults will never agree to this," Angborn warned._

 _"Why do you think I'm not telling them?" Loki asked pointedly. "Here."_

 _Loki plucked a plain copper ring off of his nightstand. He took Angborn's wrist, and put the ring in his hand. Angborn looked at it curiously. What was this?_

 _"It's got a tracking charm keyed to my lifeforce," Loki explained. "You'll be able to track my location with it. Once you know what building I'm being held in you can tell the adults and have them send troops."_

 _"And you call Thor insane!" Angborn shouted._

 _The very fact that Angborn shouted startled Loki._

 _"I don't have to defeat the Cadet Killer," Loki reminded Angborn. "I just have to stay alive long enough for help to arrive. Surviving is something I can do. Besides, do you have another plan? No one seems to have one to catch this guy. We know that it's one of the mage at the court, and this way we'll be able to find out which one."_

 _"The adults don't believe that it's one of the court mages," Angborn grumbled._

 _"Which is yet another reason not to tell them about this," Loki said smugly. His voice and expression suddenly became serious. "Angborn, the last four cadets whose bodies have shown up were drained of blood. This killer is collecting their blood, and you know how dangerous blood magic is. If he's planning something then he has to be stopped before he gets enough blood to complete his project. We can't let him get the blood of even one more cadet, because that fifth cadet's blood might be all he needs to finish. We need to stop him now."_

 _"The adults don't believe that he's playing with blood magic either, "Angborn sighed._

 _"Well we ravens know better, don't we Angborn?" Loki asked with a bright smile. "Thanks to Tilaria being a blood mage we know all about blood magic. I'm right about him planning something and you know it."_

 _Angborn closed his fingers around the ring in his hand and looked away with a tsk. Loki was right. He did know better._

 _"The rest of the Ravens will help spot me, and they'll shadow me to make sure I'm fine," Loki continued. "You are the one who's going to tell Commander Vir where to find me and the Cadet Killer. If things get out of control then we break it off and the other ravens pull me out."_

 _Angborn did not look satisfied._

 _"Don't worry," Loki said in a gentle voice. "I have no plans to die today."_

 _"None ever do," Angborn warned as he slipped the ring on a finger._

 _Loki's plan had worked in the end, but he had come dangerously close from dying of blood loss when the ravens had lost sight of Loki and Dalkr had destroyed the tracking charm Loki had put on himself._

* * *

Angborn realized that he had fallen into stance without realized it, and now relaxed to avoid a fight. He let Rogers drag him away from the body. There was no proof that this was Dalkr. One body was not enough proof. It couldn't be Dalkr. Despite his reassurances to himself, Angborn found he couldn't stop trembling.

* * *

 **Remember, Angborn is on Midgard, not Asgard. He has no idea that the Celestials have returned, that Asgard is now in war, or anything else that's going on.**

 **It's only fair to warn you, but I am putting this story on the back burner a little more then my others. Have no fear, I do not abandon stories halfway through. It's just not my primary update. My primary update is the stories of Loki as a child, some as young as ten and others when he's older.** **I invite you to read those in between these updates if you're not already doing so.**


	8. The Second Kill

Renee Grayson let her eyes skim over the report saved on the flashdrive Mira had given her. This was intelligence Mendez had been trying to pass onto her before Romanoff had interrupted him, and it was well worth losing one informant. She could always get another SHIELD agent under her thumb. How Mira had gotten the flashdrive from Mendez to pass it onto Renee, she didn't know. There was no doubt that Mira was a skilled agent, whoever she worked for.

Renee was just frustrated that someone had already run a news article on this. Well, no matter. They might have the news, but they had no information on what had actually happened. That was where Renee would swoop in with this.

According to Mira's snitched report, Loki _had_ been at Puente Antiguo yesterday. He had escaped his execution and fled to Midgard, although exactly why was unknown. Maybe it was because the humans would be the least threat to him (although he should have learned at New York the humans could put up a fight), or maybe he just wanted revenge against the humans and this was his best chance to do so.

When Asgard's forces had chased after him, Loki had been backed into a corner and taken a human hostage. They had been hesitant to engage with one of Loki's daggers on an innocent's throat. One of the soldiers – he actually had a name, Angborn Eirillson – had managed to get the human away from Loki and enabled the rest to stop him.

The report indicated that there had been one Asgardian casualty, but then that was scratched out and replaced with no casualties. How could the casualty number change? Renee didn't believe that SHILED would make such a sloppy mistake as to mistaken an innocent for a casualty. There would have been a casualty and then… and then what? They had come back to life? Something very strange had happened in New Mexico. Her readers would love it.

Her iPhone, sitting next to her on her desk, let out a meow, indicating she had a text. Renee looked at the message that appeared on the lockscreen and saw that it was from Julie Childs, a friend of hers. With a sigh, Renee tore herself away from her computer monitor in her office and unlocked her phone. The text said that Julie's son Robert hadn't come home from middle school yet, and she wanted to know if Robert was with her at the news station. Julie knew her son wanted to be a reporter like Renee.

Renee thought about it for a second, but she hadn't seen Robert in days and texted as much back to Julie. She set the phone beside her keyboard and turned back to the report. As she continued reading, she noticed a line that made her eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

Since the Norse myths had suddenly come to life and were now history instead of fiction, Renee had been studying them. Because of that, she understood the implications of the line that said the Bifrost had been damaged, and was currently not usable. Bifrost, or the Rainbow Bridge, Renee knew, was how the Asgardians traveled between realms.

Apparently, the other Asgardians had been so quick to get Loki back to Asgard, one of their number had been left behind on Midgard. With Bifrost unoperational, he was now stranded on Midgard. For the time being, he was staying with SHIELD.

It was Angborn, Renee realized after reading a little longer. The same Asgardian that had freed Loki's hostage. He had been injured, though not fatally, and had told the other Asgardians to go ahead with Loki while he recovered from his wounds enough to manage the transport back home. Now he was stranded.

Curious about him, Renee clicked on a link and opened the file SHIELD had made for Angborn. There wasn't much information about him so far, but they had a picture. He really did look human. All he would need to do was change into human-style clothing and it would be impossible to tell he was an alien. He was also kind of cute, Renee admitted.

Angborn was at the Triskelion, half-an-hour's drive from her location. This opportunity was too amazing to pass up. If she could get Angborn alone, without the rest of SHIELD to interrupt her, she could ask him directly about Asgard and Loki. What better chance to get information then from an Asgardian themselves? A smile slowly grew and Renee crossed her arms over her chest in satisfaction. She had to get to Angborn.

There was another meow from her phone, notifying her that Julie had responded. She was telling Renee to keep an eye out for Robert. and to tell her if she saw him. Renee rolled her eyes and texted Julie not to worry so much. Knowing Robert, he had gone to a friend's house and forgotten to call.

Renee decided to speak to Angborn and get him to fill in on the rest of the details from the report. Then she could write up her article. Her editor knew how hot Renee's articles were, and he would instantly clear off the front page for her if she asked. All she needed was a little more detail, and she would take care of that right now. There was an Asgardian to interview.

She ejected the flashdrive, logged out, grabbed her phone and notebook, and then left as she slung her purse over her shoulder. Her editor let her go unhindered, having learned by now that Renee worked best without anyone monitoring her. The drive took closer to forty-five minutes when you included traffic and streetlights, but she made it to the Triskelion at last.

Once she arrived, she was not surprised that SHIELD wouldn't let her pass. Angborn was in the Triskelion, so that was where she needed to be. Maybe she could get an official comment from SHIELD while she was at it.

Thanks to Fury, the bluff of dragging her grandfather in no longer scared SHIELD agents into line, making her work much harder. The two officers at Triskelion's outermost gate were not letting her past. Renee stood in front of her car debating her next move when someone walked up behind her.

"Hello," a voice greeted the SHIELD officers. "Is there a problem?"

There was a pause as the SHIELD person overlooked him, and then he shook his head. "No problem."

"Half the base thought you'd gone back to Asgard," the other SHIELD officer said. "Director Fury wants to speak to you."

"He does?" The visitor asked as he walked past Renee, "all right."

Renee's jaw dropped when the visitor nodded at one SHIELD agent and then turned his head forward again. It was him! Angborn! He was walking right past her.

Renee stepped forward quickly and grabbed his arm. Angborn stopped walking and turned to face her, a quizzical look in his eyes. He was a jaw dropper, Renee thought.

"You're Angborn, right?" She asked him, breath caught. "The Asgardian that was left behind?"

It was Angborn, Renee was certain. He looked suitably befuddled by Renee's ambush, something she was pleased with. The information she got from an unprepared speaker was much juicer then from those who knew she was coming beforehand.

"Um," was all Angborn said.

One of the SHIELD officers quickly interceded and saved Angborn from Renee.

"Go," one of them told the Asgardian.

Angborn dipped his head in a movement akin to a bow and went past the checkpoint where Renee couldn't follow. Humans didn't bow, further confirming that he was the Asgardian. Renee tried to follow, but the SHIELD agents stopped her.

"You go to," the agent scolded Renee. "You don't have the security clearance anymore Mrs. Grayson."

Renee huffed, unable to believe she was going to lose her information source. Suddenly she had an idea.

"Fine," Renee told them. "I'll just publish what I have."

She turned to stalk back to her car, and the two SHIELD agents looked at each other in worry.

"What would that be?" One of them asked.

"You'll read it in tomorrow's paper," Renee promised them and opened the door to her car.

As she went to close it, she found that one of the agents was holding the doorframe.

"Hold on a minute," he said.

Renee smiled, but didn't try to close the door again as the other SHIELD agent contacted the Triskelion. Triskelion's computer shifted the call around until it found an officer near the phone and piped the call to that.

Hill was sitting at a desk looking through a debriefing report from SHIELD agents that had just stopped a criminal group with Chitauri tech in central Africa. They had already been redeployed to help Romanoff in Syria. Then the phone rang.

She was sitting in the record department, and was planning to answer the phone. Then she realized she was the only person in the area. Normally, the debriefing of a mission and the final look-over of a report before it was filed would elicit the presence of half a dozen personal.

Hill muttered a few colorful words about the wonders of Chituari tech and answered the phone herself. "This is Hill. What is it?"

"Sir," an agent answered. "We have a situation at the first checkpoint. Renee Grayson is here."

"Send her away," Hill said instantly and started lowering the phone from her ear.

"She spoke with Angborn," the agent said quickly.

"She what?!" Hill snapped with a hiss.

That was not good. Who knew what Angborn might say.

"Angborn didn't say anything," the agent assured, "but Renee was able to recognize him on sight. She even knew his name. I thought the pass with Mendez was stopped?"

"It was," Hill assured him with a sigh.

How had Renee gotten the information this time?

"She's saying that she'll publish her information about yesterday's battle and it will be in tomorrow's newspaper," the agent continued urgently.

Hill suddenly became curious. The security footage from Jane's lab from 4pm to 5am – 13 hours – was gone. It was simply wiped form the video feed as if it had been cut out. It was during those 13 hours that Loki had been at Jane's lab. According to what Angborn had said, Loki had held Jane Foster hostage when Angborn and the other Asgardian forces had cornered him. There was no proof to his story though, especially since Jane could be lying to help Angborn.

Renee had different avenues to gather information then SHIELD did, and Hill wondered if Renee had managed to get information they had not. Had she learned something new? Or was she bluffing about having information?

"Let her in," Hill said after deliberate thought. "I'll meet her."

"Sir?" The agent asked in surprise.

"I said let her into the Triskelion," Hill repeated.

"Yes sir," the agent said and hung up.

Hill put the wireless phone down and quickly filed the folder with the Central Africa reports away. She wanted to see what, if anything, Renee had found.

Needless to say, when the SHIELD agents backed down and allowed Renee access she was ecstatic. No one hindered her as she drove to the Triskelion parking lot. There was no sign of Angborn, a pity. The smaller aboveground parking lot was reserved for guests and high-ranking officers, so it wasn't surprising that there were empty spaces. Renee thought distantly that there were more empty spaces than usual.

Renee unbuckled her seatbelt and opened her car door. The silence that greeted her as she slung her turquoise purse over her shoulder and opened the door was almost deafening. There was no steady stream of people coming in or out of the building or cutting across the parking lot, and no roar of numerous Quinjets flying overhead as they took off or landed. She had worked at the Triskelion for several years, and never had she seen it so quiet.

Where was everyone?

Renee warily pushed her door shut, not bothering to lock it. There was no way criminals could get in here to break into her car, and even if she locked it, SHIELD could easily pick the lock. Her teeth were on edge as she stood beside her car and looked around.

No Angborn, but Maria Hill was walking down the steps and approaching. Why was the deputy director coming to greet her? Wasn't there a lower-ranking officer that could speak to her? Or was there? Renee looked around at the empty base again, smelling a story that might be even better then Loki's return.

"Where's Angborn?" Renee asked Hill innocently.

"Not where you're going to see him," Hill promised her.

Hill didn't want Renee on the base, and there was no way she was letting her into the building. Renee had been a top-notch officer in the communications branch, and she was no moron. She already had to know how quiet the base, and was wondering what was going on. SHIELD's position among the countries of Earth was tenuous enough without Renee reporting on how badly SHIELD was coping with the fallout of New York.

Renee shrugged. "Am I allowed inside?"

"Not preferably," Hill replied tartly.

"Scared of me seeing that the Triskelion's empty?" Renee asked in amusement.

Hill didn't respond or rise to the bait, although she groaned inwardly. It was just as she feared.

"I'm surprised you came to greet my yourself Hill," Renee continued. "I was expecting Romanoff or one of your other flunkeys."

"Romanoff is on a mission," Hill dismissed, "and I'm not telling you where or why."

Renee shrugged and leaned against the hood of her car. There was a story here. All she needed to do was get it out of Hill.

Her phone rang, and Renee jumped in surprise. She fished her smartphone out of her purse and saw that it was form Julie. Geez, that woman worried way too much, and this was a terrible time.

"Hold on a minute," Renee asked/told Hill and answered. "Julie? _Why_ are you calling me?"

"I've called all of his friend's houses," Julie said in a voice hinting that she was close to a breakdown. "Robert isn't with any of them and he's not answering his phone."

Renee sighed deeply in frustration. She was _this_ close to not one but two new top stories, and Julie was interrupting her for this?

"Listen Julie," Renee cut her off. "I'm sure Robert's fine. Knowing him he probably just forgot to turn his phone back on after school. He might even still be at school with his squad. Maybe he had to stay behind for drills."

"No, no," Julie said in a tearful voice. "I've checked the calendar. JROTC practice finished two hours ago. He should have called me for a ride already."

"Maybe it went long," Renee said with thinning patience.

Maybe if Julie wasn't such a hoverer treating a twelve year-old like he was six Robert might keep his phone on more often. He was so frustrated with his mom that he had even joined JROTC so he could stay behind after school and spend less time at home.

"Look Julie," Renee stopped her. "I'm busy. I'll call you back later. You should have a little more faith in Robert. Goodbye."

She lowered her phone and hung up without another word. Hill gave Renee a curious look and Renee shrugged that it was nothing.

"Now," Renee said cheerfully as she tucked her phone back into her purse, "about Angborn."

Julie looked at the phone in her hand mutely, listening to the beeping noise that old her Renee had hung up on her. How could she do that? Little Robert could be injured!

She punched in the number of her son's cell phone one more time and put the receiver to her ear. It was ringing. After five rings, Robert's voice mail came up.

"This is Robby," her son's voice said clearly. "I'm either with my squad or in school. Leave a name and number and I'll get right back to you."

There was a beep, and Julie started speaking. "Robert, this is your mother again. Where are you? Are you okay? Please call me back soon, okay?"

Reluctantly, she ended the call and hung the phone up with a heavy hand.

Dalkr looked up from his work and flicked his hand, magically pulling the phone from Robert Child's backpack into the air. He apprised the black rectangle curiously, not knowing that it was a phone. All he knew was that this was the third time the rectangle had started making music.

The first time he had jumped in surprise, thinking he was under attack. The second time he had barely glanced at it, not allowing it to interrupt his work. Now though, he was getting fed up with it.

What was this thing, he wondered and turned it around with a movement of his hand. It didn't look like the communicators he was familiar with: crystals, mirrors, or bodies of still water. This looked somewhat similar to a Dökkálfr wristcomm. If it was a communicator, Dalkr didn't want it to turn on. Communicators could be tracked, and Dalkr also didn't want his location revealed.

He twisted his hand and the screen of the phone cracked. Sparks flew as it was torn horizontally into two halves, and he dropped them to the ground. There, that took care of that.

With that nuisance silenced, Dalkr went back to the work at hand. The cadet he had caught was sitting in a chair, strapped in place with magical restraints. Dalkr had cut the boy's throat as soon as he'd gotten the boy to sit, but he was still draining the last few drops of blood.

Satisfied with his handiwork, Dalkr finished up and stored the blood in a longneck bottle made of brown glass he had found and let the cadet's body fall to the ground. Dalkr's spell stripping the cadet of his will had broken in death, and the boy's eyes were once more green. His skin was white from having his blood removed.

Dalkr wanted to go back to the park and add the second dose of blood now. He scolded himself for the rash thought, and firmly set the bottle on a grimy metal table. It wouldn't be until tonight that the pentagram would finish absorbing the first dose of blood.

He understood that this would take time. The pentagram he was using was supposed to be pre-drawn in blood, not simply put a large dose at each of the star's five points. It was a little unorthodox, but he was sure it would be stronger the normal.

His only problem was that blood lost its capability to be used as an instrument in magic 12 hours after the body died or it was transfused from it. 12 hours was all the window he had to do his work. Unfortunately, it took about 24 hours for each point of the star to adapt. This meant that he had to get the cadet's one at a time instead of just killing them all at once and making it easy. It was so frustrating.

Dalkr turned away from the body and left the abandoned warehouse he was using after setting a few charms to keep everyone out. He took the sunglasses he had found out from his jacket pocket and put them over his yellow eyes so he didn't need to waste energy with a glamour. The sun was well path the its zenith, on its way to sunset.

He would put the body and blood where the second point of the pentagram would be in the park. Dalkr decided to go to the park to scout out a good place to place this body and the three that would follow. Excitement tingled his fingertips at the prospect of the pentagram's completion. This time, that child Loki wouldn't get in his way. Hopefully, Asgard had already executed him.

Two down, three to go.

* * *

 **Renee is a pest, but you can blame that on her SHIELD training. I like the OC of Renee, but how do you readers like her? Tell me about her and the story. Heck you, can tell me what you like/dislike about my entire Marvel universe. Getting reviews makes me more eager to update, and it allows me to make the story more enjoyable to read.**

 **If you enjoy this story, then try reading " _Blood vs Water_ ", a companion story that takes place at the same time this one, but documents events on Asgard.**


	9. Plans Within Plans

Angborn was not surprised that Fury wanted to speak with him but when he entered he found Triskelion's lobby eerily quiet. It was the quiet of something great that had been abandoned, and he idly hoped that the Triskelion did not stay quiet for long. There were only two people inside. One was at the reception desk and the other was waiting near an elevator. When Angborn walked inside the doors, the man at the elevator waved at him so that was who Angborn approached.

"Hello," Angborn greeted the person waiting for him, obviously a non-combatant.

"Hi," the human returned the greeting, tipping his head in respect. "I'm Leo Fitz. Hill asked me to show you the way to Fury's office."

"By all means," Angborn waved a hand towards the elevator, "lead on."

Fitz led Angborn to the elevator and they walked in when the door open. The doors closed.

"Director's Office," Fitz announced to the elevator, "both of us."

There was a moment where nothing happened as the request was piped up to Fury. Fury approved it and then the elevator began moving up. Angborn took a deep breath to keep from panicking at the strange sensation, and distracted himself by speaking.

"Are you a member of SHIELD's support?" Angborn asked Fitz.

Fitz looked a little confused, but then he understood. "Yeah, I'm in the science division – engineer."

"Ah," Angborn nodded. "I didn't think you were a warrior."

Fitz cringed inwardly at Angborn's casual comment, his ego taking offense. Angborn seemed aware that he had misspoken, but wasn't sure what to say to apologize. It stayed quiet until the doors opened and Fitz ushered Angborn out. He didn't leave himself, not being invited.

"Floor 5," Fitz announced.

Angborn tipped his head towards Fitz as the doors closed and Fitz gave a small, semi-tense smile. That was something, Angborn supposed. Like all the other rooms in the building it was illuminated with harsh fluorescents instead of the gentle glow of lightcrystals and it irritated his eyes.

Once the elevator began to lower, the doors that led to Fury's office opened. Again he was flooded with the humans' lighting system. Fury was behind his desk and Angborn walked to stand in front his desk out of instinct, standing at attention.

Fury looked a little surprised to see Angborn's reaction and told him, "at ease."

Angborn relaxed his stance and crossed his arms behind his back. "What did you wish to speak to me about, sir?"

He got right to the point, Fury noted. That was one thing Fury liked about soldiers. There was none of the political diversion.

"As I'm sure you've noticed Angborn," Fury told him, being equally frank with the Asgardian, "we're a little understaffed here at the Triskelion. No, that's not accurate. The truth is we're being stretched to the breaking point cleaning up New York _and_ the black market that's selling Chitauri tech to. Terrorists are using the tech on their soldiers to make them more deadly, and many of our field agents have been incapacitated by them."

Informing Angborn about SHIELD's vulnerability was a dangerous option, but what Angborn did with the information would determine whose side he was on.

"It's annoying," Fury shook his head. "SHIELD's first real worldwide disaster and we simply aren't enough."

"You need experience," Angborn shrugged. "The battlefield is the best place to become stronger if you don't die. SHIELD managed to survive this long, so I am inclined to believe it will not die anytime soon."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Fury said, speaking without sarcasm.

"You should have seen my squadron the first time on the field," Angborn smiled at the memory. "We won… technically, but it was something of a disaster."

"Squadron?" Fury repeated.

Angborn decided to tell Fury, weaving the truth within the lie as much as possible to make it easier to believe. "I am the Captain of a squadron of Asgard's Star Guard. We call ourselves the Raven Blades. It's mostly a group of talented friends that have come together with me to help protect Asgard and the rest of the realms."

"And the rest of your squad will be okay without you?" Fury asked.

Angborn smiled and nodded. "My Commander is quite competent."

Jeren Darisson was more than just competent, he was gifted. He was also a pain who acted immature at times and still had a lot to learn about leading. But he had the rest of the squad to help him, and this would give him a chance to grow into the role of leader. Given some practice, Jeren might make a good one.

Angborn thought about mentioning that he was only going to be on Midgard for a few days until Bifrost was repaired and then he would be home anyway, but he knew that _was_ a lie. He was a traitor who had freed Loki from his execution. Jaro had killed him, which meant there was probably a kill mark on him. Lying without any truth to smooth over the words was a bad idea, Loki had warned him, and something to only be done against fools who couldn't see through it. Fury would see through a blatant lie. Of that, Angborn had no doubt.

"Well," Fury said slowly. "I thought that since you were going to be staying on Earth for the time being if you might be willing to help SHIELD."

Asking for help, even from an Asgardian visitor, killed Fury. He had to though. SHIELD truly was at the breaking point. Angborn didn't need to be a mage to tell how much it hurt Fury to ask for help.

Angborn looked away out a window, answering after a second without turning back to Fury. "Prince Thor holds SHIELD in high regard. I have been to Midgard a few times over the centuries, but I've been impressed by you humans only once. Every other time I have come, you have been serving your own needs for money or pride. Thor says that SHIELD is like that one group of humans I knew that could be trusted."

"And who was this group?" Fury asked.

Angborn smiled, his reflection in the window copying the action. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you, but they were an amazing group. It didn't matter how much power you gave them, they simply weren't corrupted by it. Thor says SHIELD is the modern-day version of them."

Angborn remembered meeting Arthur the first time. He had walked into the dining hall of Camelot's castle… and gotten a face full of apple pie. Who had started the food fight was unknown, but when he wiped the pie off his face he had seen Loki holding a tray, using it like a shield, and been holding a bowl of soup in one hand, ready to chuck it at someone. When he had seen Angborn he had doubled over laughing.

He had never seen Loki act the way he did at Camelot. There was no deception, no wall between his emotions, no keeping people at arm's length, no cool control of his emotions. It was only at Camelot that Loki had truly acted like himself, without reservation or mistrust. Camelot was gone, but what Arthur and his knights had stood for was still here – right in this building.

This was dangerous though. Asgard would probably kill him for treason, and since SHIELD was Midgard's defense force Asgard would be keeping a close eye on them. Staying with them would almost ensure Asgard would find _him_.

Then Angborn smirked. He might not have openly fought against Asgard until recently but he didn't fear them. It had been a long time since he had feared Odin. Angborn might not have spent years at Camelot without ever returning to Asgard as Loki had, but he couldn't abandon their present-day reincarnation any more then he could abandon Loki.

Angborn looked back at Fury and asked resolutely. "What do you want me to do?"

Although having an Asgardian on their side was a huge asset, Fury wasn't relieved yet. Angborn could agree to help and then lose on purpose. No, why was Fury so wary about trusting him? He was an Asgardian like Thor. _And an Asgardian like Loki_ , a part of him warned. That was the crux of it, wasn't it?

"I would love to have you on the battlefield," Fury assured him, "but the World Council wishes otherwise. They don't trust you enough for you to work with SHIELD. In fact, they didn't wish for me to inform you of SHIELD's status and would rather keep you locked up in a room."

"Who is the World Council?" Angborn asked with a frown.

Of course Angborn wouldn't know about that, Fury chided himself. "The World Security Council is an international council that oversee SHIELD. I answer to them."

Angborn smiled. "So you're disobeying your ruler's orders?"

Fury was about to defend himself but Angborn shook his head.

"Don't worry," he laughed. "Odin's a fool to. In order to protect Asgard I've have to disobey him."

That one sentence spoke volumes for Angborn's personality. He was willing to act the part of a vigilante, outlaw, or traitor when needed without hesitation should the situation call for it. Angborn was a powerful ally, but a dangerous one. Yet the fact that Odin had pushed him into that roll did not slip past Fury either. What kind of a ruler was Odin?

Fury wasn't sure if Angborn's answer was comforting or not. "Because of the Council's decision I can't deploy you onto the field, but could you help out here?"

"At the Triskelion?" Angborn shrugged after thinking about it for a few seconds. "Doing what?"

"Nothing official," Fury said cautiously. "I can't have you doing too much or the Council will realize that I'm defying them. Mostly I want you as backup in case there's an attack by the EDF. I can explain sending you around the city."

"That's fine," Angborn agreed. "Although, what's the EDF?"

"The Earth Defense Force," Fury exemplified. "They're an alien hate group that arose after New York."

"Hate groups?" Angborn chuckled darkly. "I should not be surprised. You humans have long believed that you are the only sentient species in existence. Like Asgard, you do not like it when threatens your dominance."

If Angborn had not been so on point then Fury might have been offended.

As it was, Fury sighed. "Yes. There are dozens of groups, but the EDF is the most radical. They fancy themselves the true guardians of the humans and see SHIELD and its personnel as traitorous pawns of aliens who deserve execution. Recently, they've taken to killing SHILED agents and stealing our tech. Four days ago, the EDF attacked a convey and stole the cargo."

"What was the cargo?" Angborn asked warily.

"Among other things," Fury muttered. "The scepter Loki used at New York."

"The Chitauri's scepter?" Angborn whispered.

That was right! Loki and the Tesseract had been brought back to Asgard, but not the scepter. In light of the Tesseract, everyone had forgotten about it. Now it was in the hands of terrorists? Wonderful. Angborn was starting to get really fed up with the humans.

"Do you want me to help track the scepter down?" Angborn asked.

"No," Fury disagreed. "We've already got our scientists working on it. Unless you have some magic that could help."

Angborn shook his head no. Technically speaking, he wasn't a mage like Loki. Thoughts of Loki blundered into his thoughts. How was he doing now that he was free of his cell? Was he still being chased by the Star Guard, or had he finally killed Odin and gotten Thor on the throne? Thor would never allow his little brother to be hunted. Or had Loki crowned himself?

"That's right," Angborn said to cover for his sudden silence. "You've learned how to track the Tesseract's energy. Since the scepter draws its energy from the Tesseract, you can track it."

"That's the theory," Fury agreed.

"Not the reality?" Angborn mused.

Fury didn't answer and Angborn didn't push it. Loki was the "spymaster" of Asgard, but Angborn's Raven Blades usually helped him out with the espionage work, so he understood Fury's position within SHIELD and why he was so cautious around an outsider like him. Of course, telling Fury that might complicate his cover.

An icon on Fury's desk suddenly lit up with a ringing noise, indicating that he had an incoming call. Fury looked down at it and Hill's name popped up underneath the icon. Angborn could tell from the way Fury glanced up that he needed to answer this in private.

"Is that all, sir?" Angborn asked.

"Yes," Fury informed him. "Dismissed."

Angborn saluted and bowed before he left in the Asgardian manner, getting a raised eyebrow from Fury. He took the elevator back down to the ground floor rather than his room. Right now he had some serious thinking to do, and he was too antsy to sit still.

Instead, he went to the grassy field behind the Triskelion and shrugged off his jacket. There was no one else there. Angborn didn't mind the solace, but he was starting to feel a little creeped out by the silence. This was a place that usually was not deathly silent. Dropping his jacket on the stairs he walked out onto the field, putting the words "deathly silent" out of his mind along with all the other thoughts humming around in his head distracting him.

Angborn took a deep breath, counting seven as he inhaled and then another seven as he exhaled. He fell into stance, letting the heat and his thoughts fade away. Then he started doing a sequence of fighting moves, using the movement to ground himself. The familiar movements of the form dance worked to soothe his nerves that had been made tense from constant lying. Loki had to lie constantly like this when he had come to Midgard in the past, and Angborn didn't know how he was able to do it.

A smile twitched his lips when he remembered that Loki _hadn't_ managed to do it during Camelot – his first long-term stint to Midgard. Kay, a Saxon loyal to Arthur Pendragon and fledgling mage Loki had been training, had figured out that he was really Loki, one of the entities the teen Norseman worshiped as a god. Although Loki had managed to keep him quiet he had needed to come clean in the end and tell the truth about himself to Arthur after he got into a fight with Thor in front of Uther Pendragon.

Angborn's movement faltered and he stumbled, almost falling, before he recovered himself. That was the first time Thor and Loki had truly stood on opposite sides of the battlefield. It wasn't a good memory.

He fell back into his moves, trying to keep any more thoughts from interrupting him. This form dance was one of the longer ones, and more styled for Eladrin then an Æsir like himself. Angborn couldn't do all of the acrobatics that Eladrin could, but chanced a back handspring. He managed to pull it off and landed. The landing was not as graceful as it could have been, but it was good for an Æsir.

He was going to go for a jump kick when there was movement in the corner of his eye. The almost meditative trance that he'd gone into snapped, and he was once more back to the world of reality and espionage. Angborn managed to save himself from flattening onto the ground when he tripped over his feet.

Feeling heat flushing across his face, Angborn quickly stood, brushing himself off. The movement had resolved itself into a human approaching him. When he saw Angborn was alright, he hesitated and then continued approaching, albeit at a calmer pace then a moment ago. Two things struck Angborn. One, he was wearing a black combat uniform he had seen other SHIELD warriors wearing, and two, he knew him.

"Are you okay?" The warrior asked as he stopped a bit away from Angborn. "I didn't mean to disturb you."

Angborn shook his head at Grant Ward. "It is alright. I simply got caught up in my movements."

Angborn raised his head and had to squint against the bright sunlight that shone over the top of the Triskelion. The angle of the shadows had changed, lengthened, indicating he'd been doing his forms longer then he thought. Ward stood across from him in the darkness, untouched by the sunlight that lit the motes of dust in the air around Angborn.

"I've never seen moves like that," Ward was saying as Angborn tipped his head down so he could see and not be blinded. "Were they Asgardian?"

"Mostly," Angborn replied as his eyes focused and he was able to make out Ward clearly. "Some were elfin, and some were from other species. I'm surprised to see you here. Weren't you escorting Jane Foster back to her lab this morning?"

Ward didn't seem perturbed that Angborn had changed the subject, getting why he didn't want to reveal his fighting style to a stranger. "She's been successfully relocated to another facility. I was recalled to Triskelion and just got back an hour ago."

"Ah," Angborn shouldn't be surprised. "I wasn't at the Triskelion at the time of your return."

Ward's expression revealed surprise. "Fury let you leave? Wow. I know I said earlier you weren't a prisoner but I can't believe Fury let you out of his sight. He's been kind of paranoid about Asgardians since we've only met two so far – one good and one evil. I don't think he knows what to make of you guys."

Angborn smiled instead of taking offense. "I just spoke to him. He did not mention my excursion around the city."

"DC," Ward supplemented the name still looking surprised and confused that Fury had let him leave.

"DC," Angborn repeated and then looked confused again. "Why do you have a city whose name is initials?"

Ward smiled and the other emotions vanished as if they had never been there. "It's short hand for District of Columbia." When Angborn still looked confused, Ward shrugged and said, "it's a human thing."

Angborn nodded seriously, believing that wholeheartedly.

"Did Fury get you to fill in for the other soldiers?" Ward asked him.

"Yes," he agreed, figuring that since Ward was SHIELD there was no harm in telling him. "Although I'm not sure about going into battle unarmed. I have no weapons."

Angborn could have smacked himself when he realized he was standing across from one of SHIELD's warriors.

"Could you show me to SHIELD's armory?" He asked Ward. "I know you humans don't fight with traditional weapons anymore, but I think I could find something. My guest pass doesn't clear me."

Ward seemed amused by Angborn's annoyance at the silver guest pass clipped to his discarded jacket.

"I can talk to Hill," he admitted, "but I can't promise anything."

Angborn finished his cool down routine and nodded. "I would find it odd if you could."

He could tell that Ward was curious, and Angborn watched him, silently giving him permission to say what was on his mind.

"What do you think of humans?" Ward blurted out.

Angborn wasn't surprised by the question and had already thought of a response, knowing that someone would ask him that. "I think you humans are as old as any other species in Yggdrasil, but in many ways you are very young. You did not have the guidance of an Elder God – not like the others species did. You have needed to learn on your own, and you have done an admirable job on it. You've come a long way in the millennials that have passed, but you still have much to learn."

"You don't think we should have been introduced to the other species, do you?" Ward asked bluntly.

"The other species have known about you humans for thousands of years," Angborn dismissed. "I don't believe that _you_ should know about _them_. You are still too young to be trusted to act responsibly among the other species. EDF and the other alien hate groups that have sprung up since New York are proof of that."

"Not all humans are like that," Ward defended his kin. "Some of us know that not all aliens are bad. Thor isn't, and you're on our side."

"But other aliens, like the Chitauri, do mean harm." Angborn shook his head. "One of the things the humans still need time to grow out of is their narrow-sightedness. You see that some of us aliens are a threat, so react as if all of us are. I understand that trust must be earned, but earning the trust of humans is difficult, and you do not have one overall leader – no king or queen. There is no unity for your species, only war. You cannot find peace among yourselves, so how can _we_ trust _you_?"

The longer Angborn spoke the tighter Ward's jaw locked and the more insulted he looked. When he finally finished he expected an outburst from Ward. Humans, he had learned, were one of the more prideful species. Ward didn't though. He exhaled, heaving it as a low sigh, and hung his head.

"You're right," he admitted. "I see why you don't trust us. We don't have a place in the nine realms, let alone in the galaxy and we have a reputation for messing things up."

Angborn was surprised by Ward's humility, a trait not commonly found by humans.

"The humans do need a spokesperson," Ward continued, "one person to speak for our species. We don't have one yet thanks to our current government, but I hope we get it soon."

Ward nodded agreement and walked back inside the Triskelion, his image swallowed by the shadows of the understaffed building. Angborn returned to his forms, thinking about what Ward had said, the sunlight warm on his skin.

* * *

 **If you have watched Marvel's _Agents of Shield_ then please don't spoil anything. If you are human, as I assume most of my readers are, don't take offense. Also, I do mention things like evolution and gods and it will involve Earth's history. I am not endorsing or insulting any religion, so don't bite my head off. I'm not trying to insult anyone and this is about a _fictional_ universe. **

**Let me clarify something else: Angborn has a girlfriend back on Asgard. Sheesh.**


	10. Ambush

It was sunset before Angborn finally stopped his form dances. He had done all of the ones that he could do without a weapon, and the exhaustion was making his head spin. Angborn did a few light stretches to cool down, and then walked back over and put on his tennis shoes and jacket.

No sooner had he tightened the laces into a bow then there was a colossal boom like thunder. Angborn jumped and the ground rumbled slightly underfoot. He looked up, but the sky was cloudless. It wasn't thunder. An explosion then or an earthquake? It would have to be one of some magnitude to be felt here.

Instinctively he reached for his side where his sword was only to touch air. Right, he was unarmed. Throwing his sword at Odin might have seemed like a good idea at the time, but now it seemed rather stupid.

Instead of feeing stupid he grabbed his jacket and raced back to the Triskelion. The doors slid open at his approach and he ran inside. SHIELD agents were not swarming around the base as Angborn thought they would be.

"What was that explosion?" Angborn called out to the SHIELD agents in lobby.

"Why should we tell you?" The agents challenged him.

"Because I'm here to help mortal," Angborn snapped. "You humans clearly can't keep your realm in line on your own."

"You're the Asgardian," the officer said flatly.

"What do you think?" Angborn snapped.

The communication officer sitting at the front desk was staring at his screen as if trying to analyze it on sight. "It was just a few blocks away. Oh gods."

"One present," Angborn sounded off arrogantly and walked over to the agent staring at his computer screen.

He shrugged his jacket on and leaned over the counter to look upside down at his screen. The agent had gotten up a satellite image of the area and was zooming in. There was a group of people on the streets and it looked like they had semi-automatic weapons. Angborn narrowed his eyes when he saw an energy shot from a Chitauri disruptor. This group was armed with more than human weapons.

"It's the EDF," the agent at the computer whispered, hand shaking on the keyboard.

"That hate group," Angborn sighed and stood straight. "You humans really do know how to make a good terrorist group."

The few agents present couldn't argue, and that bothered them. Footsteps sounded in the lobby and Angborn turned away from the computer monitor to the source curiously. The source revealed itself to be Grant Ward in a flak jacket with a gun holstered on his side. Angborn was tempted to make a comment about how SHIELD could have a little faster response time, but decided not to raise their ire. Playing along was more important than irritating its officers.

"Am I coming with you?" Angborn asked and straightened.

"No," Ward shook his head. "Knowing EDF's tactics this is likely a diversion to draw us away from the Triskelion so they can hit it. I'll lead a strike to deal with the main group. You are to stay here and keep watch over the Triskelion."

He held out his hand to Angborn, and in it was a holstered gun. Angborn looked at it and then took it from Ward with a nod. When he took the gun his demeanor became serious. Ward raced to catch up with the rest of the agents, and Angborn drew the sleek, compact black gun from the holster. It didn't look like a normal gun, and was lighter than most human pistols he'd handled.

He looked up to ask Ward exactly what type of gun this was, but the agent was already out of sight heading to the garage for the jeeps with SHIELD's eagle emblem on the door. Not only was Ward gone, but so was everyone else in the lobby. Angborn curiously removed the bullet cartridge and took out one of the bullets. It did not look a normal bullet at all.

He looked at the SHIELD agent behind the reception desk, and held out the bullet towards him. "What type of bullet is this?"

"I can't give you any specifics," he said apologetically, "but it's a tranquilizer round. The weapon is called an ICER. It doesn't have a lethal setting."

"Thor said you humans had created your own version of a stun-hex, and it seems he was right," Angborn mused as he looked over the ICER.

The officer looked back down at his screen intensely, and Angborn put the bullet back into the clip and snapped it back into the ICER with a click as it locked. When the clip locked the agent at the computer jumped. Angborn noticed his movement and looked at the agent out of the corner of his eye. Because humans aged so quickly it was difficult for Angborn to gauge how old he was, but the one sitting behind the reception desk looked about 9 centuries, younger than he was.

"How old are you?" Angborn asked the officer.

"Huh?" The officer asked and looked up from the screen.

"I'm over a thousand years old," Angborn told the officer sternly, "and you look younger. I don't know what that translates into by human time, but I'd guess you're too young to be a SHIELD officer."

"I'm not too young," he argued back sharply. "I'm in the senior class in the Communications College."

Angborn narrowed his eyes. "You're still in school."

The younger than average SHIELD officer flushed and looked back down at the computer screen sharply. Local authorities had arrived to deal with the EDF's forces, and while they might be able to handle a normal case the Chitauri weaponry tipped the playing field into the EDF's favor. It was the same situation that was happening worldwide by everything from common criminals to mafia, and the only ones equipped to deal with it was SHIELD.

"You've noticed how shorthanded we are, haven't you?" The officer asked softly. "SHIELD students who are in their last year are being recruited to help out. We're supposed to stay behind and act as support while the senior officers handled situations, but sometimes we get called out into the field anyway."

On the screen, a shot from a Chitauri rifle one of the EDF people had made a police cruiser explode and fly into the air ten feet to land upside down. Angborn looked at the ICER in his hand, and then at the computer monitor the agent was looking at so intently. He sighed as he finally understood the situation SHIELD had been put in, and took a closer look at the young agent watching the monitor. The SHIELD agents were finally pulling up on the screen of the monitor and the operatives jumping out of the jeeps to join in the battle.

"You've never been in battle before, have you cadet?" Angborn asked softly.

The agent gave a start and looked up at Angborn in surprise, "h-how did you know?"

Angborn smiled in understanding. "Your eyes. They're too innocent for you to have killed, but you've seen death before."

The agent looked down at the keyboard without responding. He didn't understood how the Asgardian had known. Older SHIELD officers seemed to be able to do the same. Was being able to read someone something that came with experience?

When the agent spoke next, it was on a different subject. "Why did you call me a cadet?"

"You are one, aren't you?" Angborn asked innocently. "You have not finished your training, yet SHIELD has put you in a combat situation."

"I've been trained though," he said stubbornly. "I might be at the Communications Academy, but I know how to use the ICER you're holding a lot better than you."

"You probably do," Angborn shrugged, "but that doesn't mean you're a warrior."

"Just because I'm a human doesn't mean I can't fight!" The agent argued.

Angborn held the ICER towards the agent, but he recoiled form the gun rather than take it, his fear betraying him. He looked down and Angborn lowered the ICER by his side. The SHIELD agent, no, the SHIELD cadet looked back at the monitor, and Angborn noticed the desperate searching look in his eyes.

"Who are you looking for?" Angborn asked in the same gentle voice.

The cadet looked up in surprise, and then back down. "Ethan Steele, a friend of mine from the Operations Academy, is fighting EDF right now. It's his first battle."

"The first battle eh," Angborn tilted his head up towards the ceiling as he thought about it. "That is the point where a warrior earns his stripes. Either he lives and learns, or he dies. There's rarely a middle ground."

His words made the cadet tense up, and Angborn regretted them. Although he didn't care for SHIELD and he didn't approve of them deploying cadets, he didn't have a feud with this human.

"Ethan Steele is your friend right?" Angborn asked the cadet.

The cadet nodded without looking up.

"Do you think he'll be alright?" Angborn asked.

"Ethan's strong," the cadet whispered with a smile. "In more ways than one he's strong."

"If you believe he will be fine then you're probably right," Angborn shrugged casually. "He's your friend, so you know him pretty well."

"You really think he'll be alright?" The cadet asked cautiously and looked up at Angborn.

Angborn nodded. "By the way, I never got your name cadet."

"Daniel Wilson," the cadet introduced with a smile, fears set aside for the moment.

"Angborn Eirillson," Angborn responded with a confident smile. "I would say of Asgard, but I think you already know that."

Wilson did already know that, but he gave Angborn an odd look when the Æsir leaned against the front desk. "Aren't you supposed to defend the Triskelion?"

"I am," Angborn said without straightening. "Your security system will detect any intruders that find their way in here, and since you're sitting in front of a computer you'll be able to link up with the system and tell me where to go. I need to stay put."

That made a lot sense now that Wilson thought about it. Angborn didn't have security clearance and he didn't know his way around the base, so he would need to borrow Wilson's in an emergency. He looked back down at the monitor, but it was impossible to pick out Ethan among all the combatants.

"You humans communicate on the field with earpieces, right?" Angborn asked Wilson. "Do you have one I can use so you can stay in contact with me?"

"Y-you want me to be your support for the mission?" Wilson asked with a slight stutter in his voice.

"I don't see anyone else around here," Angborn sighed. "Besides, this is your first battle. It's time to see if you really are a cadet."

Wilson didn't move as what Angborn said sank in, and then he straightened and nodded. "I think there's an extra headset under the counter that you can wear. Let me find it."

He ducked out of sight behind the counter and Angborn experimentally raised the ICER, pointing it like it was Loki's revolver. It was different from it or a Dark Elf disruptor, and Angborn didn't trust it without practice. If a fight did break out, then Angborn supposed he'd be able to handle a few humans without it.

"Here," Wilson said as he sat up and held out a black headset to Angborn.

It was one of those kinds that went over his right ear and had a microphone down the right side of his jaw, but not on the left side of his head. He nodded and took it from Wilson, putting it on in what seemed to be the correct position. Wilson nodded that he was wearing it right.

"Press the side of the headset to speak to me, and I can do the same to speak to you," Wilson briefed quickly. "You won't have to do anything to hear me, only when you respond. I can guide you to locations and relay other information as well as override any security blocks or checkpoints in your way."

Angborn nodded, and looked at the entrance to the lobby. "You can get to the airstrip from here, can't you?"  
Angborn's question surprised Wilson. "Um, yeah. Once you enter the lobby you can go almost anywhere in the Triskelion."

"Even the labs or the armory?" Angborn pressed.

Wilson nodded warily. "Everything is connected to make things easier for the agents that work here. Some areas naturally have special clearance, but that's only a few places. What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking," Angborn mused and looked at the main entrance. "That if we're going to have intruders that they're going to come in through the lobby."

"You do?" Wilson tensed nervously and looked at the entryway.

"If you're trying to enter the Triskelion then security is very tight," Angborn rationed out. "Once you enter however, security in between floors and wings of the building is comparatively lax. If you want to enter then the easiest way is to do so through one of the checkpoints. No matter how fortified a building is the doorway is always the weakest spot, and like you said, you can reach almost any part of the facility once you enter the lobby."

Wilson exhaled. "You're probably right. The lobby is going to be their target."

Like an airport, if you could get through the security checkpoint then you wouldn't find any other resistance. Which meant Wilson was probably going to end up on the battlefield like Ethan. That thought made his hands shake, and he looked dully at the screen.

He looked up in surprise when Angborn offered him the ICER Ward had given him. Angborn must have remembered that Wilson was too scared to take the gun so he set it on the desk next to Wilson's keyboard.

"That'll do you more good than it will for me," Angborn said quietly. "Whether they come in through the lobby or not, I'd rather you not be unharmed. You don't have to shoot anyone. I've learned that pointing a gun at someone, even if the clip is empty, is usually enough to make them surrender."

Wilson looked at the gun, but he couldn't bring himself to pick it up.

Angborn suddenly jerked his head away from the reception desk in the lobby to yard in front. "Wilson. Bring up the image of the area out front, now."

Wilson was surprised by his tone, but did as Angborn bid. When he brought up a satellite image of the area out front, he gasped.

"T-there are eight men out front, not SHIELD," Wilson reported. "They're coming along the main entrance heading for the lobby."

"So Ward was right," Angborn whispered.

He thought about his strategy for a few seconds and then nodded.

"I'll go out and meet them," he informed Wilson in a tone that was more of an order. "You stay here, and watch the monitor. Tell me if any of them branch off. Are there any other field agents in the building?"

"Vice Director Hill left this morning to help another base," Wilson thought about it. "Director Fury is still here, and I know there were at least two guards at the entrance. Most everyone was deployed to help with the other attack."

"I suspected as much," Angborn sighed. "Sound whatever alarm you have, and tell the other field officers to be ready. I'll deal with this group out front, but there might be more."

"Right," Wilson nodded and started typing on his keyboard, leaning in close to the screen.

"Have an agent sent to reinforce you, or else find another computer," Angborn ordered.

"With all due respect, I don't have time to move my setup to another computer," Wilson said bravely without looking up. "I'll link up my activates with the other communication officers."

"Don't let any humans try to help me," Angborn said, giving in to Wilson without argument since he would know best. "In the heat of battle I'm likely to mistaken them as an enemy and kill them. Keep them away until I've dealt with the eight out front."

"All of them by yourself?" Wilson demanded.

"I'm Asgardian," Angborn promised. "Get agents to the lobby. Some of the attackers will get past me, and I'll bet they run straight in here. If they do, duck. They'll shoot at their head if they see it, but they'll be busy with their mission so they'll likely run right past you. Let them run by you into the building where other agents can deal with them."

Wilson hesitated, and Angborn gave him a sharp look.

"Unless you're willing to shoot them," he added.

Wilson lowered his head and Angborn nodded.

"No reinforcements for me," he called out one last time as he turned and ran towards the front entrance.

He had only eight humans to deal with, so this shouldn't take too long.

* * *

 **No, it shouldn't take him very long at all. Yes, there is a reason why Wilson and Steele are being introduced.**


	11. Attack and Defend

The eight Earth Defense Force people approaching the Triskelion did so cautiously, expecting to fall under fire by a SHIELD tactical team. They had spread out, holding their weapons in front of them. They stopped and raised their guns as someone left the Triskelion. Of all the things they expected, it was not to see to see one person in civilian clothing casually walking towards them with his hands tucked into the jacket's pockets. He did not appear to have a gun.

The members looked at each other in confusion and the leader of the squad motioned to one of his men to kill the newcomer. If he was walking out of the Triskelion he was likely an ally of those human traitors who had sold out Earth to the aliens. As such, he was likely a traitor of Earth as well. None of this squad had Chitauri weapons as theirs was only the decoy, the obvious intruders to lure out the SHIELD agents so the other squads could slip inside two at a time.

This was just one fool, and not at all the prize they wanted to lure out. One of his men squeezed the trigger of his semi-automatic rifle and the newcomer closed his eyes, but made no attempt to dodge or flinch as the bullets hit him. The bullets bounced off him harmlessly and the EDF men slid to a stop as the man opened his dark brown eyes. He smiled at them.

"You know," he sighed, speaking in an almost patronizing tone, "bullets don't work on my people."

"Are you a powered human?" The squad leader demanded as the guns came back up.

"What makes you think I'm human at all?" The man asked, tilting his head to one side.

The men hesitated, startled by his question. Their opponent smiled and crossed his arm over his chest so his fist was over his heart, bowing in the Asgardian fashion. They didn't recognize the motion as Asgardian, but they knew it wasn't a normal human salute.

"Angborn Eirillson of Asgard," the man introduced as he raised his head, "Captain of the Raven Blade squadron. I'm afraid this building is under my protection, so if you value your lives, you'll surrender… humans."

The EDF members heard him say Asgard, and they didn't like the implications. There was an Asgardian barring their way. This was all the proof they needed that SHIELD had sold out Earth to aliens – aliens like the Chitauri.

"Are you going to insist on this foolishness?" Angborn asked calmly as the men began to edge around and encircle him. "I will warn you once, but don't expect me to be so forgiving a second time."

"If you're not with us you're against us," the leader said darkly, raising his rifle in Angborn's direction.

"I would warn you against that," Angborn pointed out helpfully. "Bullets don't harm me and you'll probably need the ammunition if you get inside the Triskelion. I'm afraid the building still has a number of SHIELD operatives that will shoot at you."

The leader slowly let the barrel of the rifle lower itself, noticing the 'if' in the statement with irritation.

"Of course," Angborn continued thoughtfully. "As I have already said, I'm not letting you past me. That doesn't leave you with many options, does it?"

One of the men behind him slowly drew a forearm-length machete from inside his jacket.

"I don't want to kill you," Angborn told them darkly, "but that doesn't mean I won't."

"Dying for Earth is no crime," the leader assured Angborn in a voice that spoke he believed every word he said. "We are all children of Earth. _You_ on the other hand, are not."

The person with the machete lunged at Angborn as Angborn opened his mouth to respond to the leader. Rather than be caught off guard, Angborn turned smoothly and batted the weapon aside, hitting the flat of the blade with the heel of his palm. With the weapon deflected, Angborn punched the human in the side. It was hard to miss the crack of the bone as the ribs broke inwards and damaged his right lung. The human was knocked several meters away and did not move as he fell to the ground. His machete fell near Angborn's feet.

"You humans are something else," Angborn shook his head as if disappointed. "In some ways, you are hard not to respect. Left to your own devices though, you are a menace. Your capacity for discrimination truly knows no bounds. I suppose Loki was not entirely wrong when he said you humans were made to be ruled."

The leader's expression hardened at the mention of Loki, the alien general who had led the Chitauri to attack New York. He made a motion and three more of the humans ran at Angborn, two using blades and one holding their gun as if it was a club. Angborn simply sighed.

* * *

Harris quickly turned off his monitor and ducked beneath the desk he was sitting behind, holding the ICER awkwardly in one hand. He held his breath as a plethora of gun shots rang out. The bulletproof glass did not break though. There was a pause and then there was the sound of a non-human weapon being fired. The glass exploded inward in a rain of shards as the shot, Harris thought it sounded like a Chitauri weapon, blasted through it.

He hunkered down a little more under the desk as the shards landed. There was a moment of silence, and then someone walked inside the Triskelion, footsteps crunching on the glass. A second set of steps joined the first as two people moved at a clipped pace, likely trying to assess the situation and get to cover. Harris knew that several dozen EDF members were former SHIELD operatives who had gone vigilante after New York, claiming that SHIELD wasn't doing enough.

"What?" One of them chuckled, "no welcoming committee?"

"They're cowards as well as traitors," the other observes.

They both chuckled, their voices becoming clearer as they continued walking down the lobby closer to his hiding spot. Against Harris's will, the hand with the ICER started shaking and he closed his eyes. One of the men walked over to stand in front of the desk Harris was hiding under and looked over it. He didn't see Harris.

"Come on," the other told the first irritably. "We need to hurry."

Harris exhaled silently in relief as the footsteps began to fade as they walked away. He leaned back against the desk, his grip on the ICER loosening. Then he heard the sporadic pop of gun shots, ICERs, and the Chitauri weapon exploding all at once. His head slammed against the desk in surprise, and he winced as he tightened his grip on the ICER.

There had been a few minutes after the agents had gone to the city and Angborn had left to intercept the squad where Harris had worried. It seemed his worries were in vain however. Triskelion was not empty of agents at after all.

The sounds of the fight went back and forth until the sound of the Chitauri weapon stopped firing, and then there were more ICER's being shot then bullets. Then there was silence and a plethora of footsteps came his way. He could hear Hill giving out orders and with a sigh of relief pushed the chair back and stood. He powered up the monitor as Hill walked into the lobby. She jumped when she saw him and her ICER came up out of instinct. Harris dropped his with a yeep and vanished under the desk again.

Hill hesitated and then sighed, lowering her ICER. "Harris, come out."

Slowly, Harris's eyes appeared over the edge of the desk, watching her. Hill tapped her ICER against her leg, knowing without a doubt it had been Harris despite not getting a good look at him. He was the most skittish student she had. His only problem was, as he had said before, was that he _really_ didn't do well with guns.

"This area's secure," Hill told him. "What are you still doing here?"

"A-Angborn told me to stay and provide support for him," Harris told her.

His eyes widened as he remembered Angborn and sat down in the chair, quickly bringing up the screen of Angborn's battle. Harris got to it just in time to see Angborn kill the last of his eight attackers. Angborn held the gun in his right hand he had taken from the human and his left hand had gone through the human's chest.

Harris meant that in the most literal way. He had turned on the feed just in time to see Angborn, his hand shaped into a knifehand, slip between the human's ribs and go right through the human's chest. From the position Angborn's hand was, it had gone through the human's heart . The human coughed up a mouthful of blood, unable to comprehend what had just happened.

"What is it?" Hill asked him.

When he didn't answer, Hill leaned forward so she could look at the monitor he was seeing. Her eyebrows rose slightly as she was suddenly able to understand why Harris had such a horrified look. What a way to kill someone.

With a sharp jerking motion, Angborn cleanly yanked his hand from the human's chest. The human leader of the EDF squad, his features still confused, fell to the ground. He didn't fall so much as crumble in a way that was more like a puppet whose strings had been cut in the middle of a performance, limbs askew. Angborn lowered his hand to his side, blood smeared almost to his elbow with small rivulets running down his arm to drip onto the ground.

A camera was at the right angle for both Hill and Harris to read angle lips as sighed and said, "what a mess."

Then he shook his head and turned to walk back to the Triskelion. He wasn't smiling, but it didn't seem like he was the least bit bothered by the slaughter. Hill looked at the eight humans lying scattered around, thinking that it was an impressive degree of slaughter. The Asgardians were not to be underestimated.

Angborn stopped walking again when he saw a squad of SHIELD warriors standing in the doorway in front of him. They were looking between the bodies and him.

"You humans are fools," Angborn told the agents with surprising coldness. "Haven't you learned by now that my kind is not to be trifled with?"

In front of him was the headset Harris had given him. It had been knocked off in the fight and had taken a bullet at some point, leading errant bolts of electricity to sporadically flicker across its surface.

"I will protect this world," Angborn assured the humans as he slowly looked back up at the agents. "My prince has become quite fond of it and he would be cross with me if I did nothing to protect it. I have also become fond of Earth. Unlike my prince though, my patience with you humans is starting to wear thin."

He took a step forward and crushed the headset under his boot. Without a second glance at the gear, he continued to walk forward. The humans stepped away from him, clearing a path for him to enter Triskelion unhindered.

Not only were the humans slowly killing their own realm to satisfy their greed, their discrimination and arrogance knew no bounds. From the Crusades to the KKK and now the EDF. The humans aged, but they never grew up.

Hill looked away from the monitor as Angborn reentered the Triskelion seriously.

"How is the battle in the city going?" Hill asked one instead of commenting on the Asgardian "ally."

Harris switched feeds on the monitor to the city cameras and the camera on the quinjet in the air overhead. The SHIELD troops had taken the upper hand, and the EDF troops were starting to flee. Hill didn't think they'd get far with the SHIELD troops on the ground. Harris's breath caught when he saw his fiend, Ethan Steele, in the fighting.

Steele shot one of the men in his way and then moved his ICER to shoot the other one. He pulled the trigger and the gun clicked without doing anything. The man Steele had been trying to shoot gave him a strange look and Steele looked at his ICER. Its slide had jammed halfcocked, and he looked from it to the EDF man. His opponent, realizing his gun wasn't working, smiled.

The EDF man threw a punch and Steele sidestepped the swing, shifting his grip on the pistol and wrapped his hand around the barrel to use it as a makeshift brass knuckle. He clocked him across the face with the pistol as he swept the man's feet out from under him, shoving him backwards into a light post with a great amount of force. There was a clang as he hit it. Steele looked away from him contemptuously to the ICER, unaware that ICER's could jam.

Steele paused his inspection of the gun at a quiet sound and looked up to see another EDF goon, this one armed with only a pistol. The man raised his pistol and Steele's eyes widened. He pulled the trigger, but Steele jerked to one side. The bullet skimmed beside his arm and hit the side of a building he stood in front of. His opponent pulled the trigger again but Steele ducked and let the bullet whizz over his head as it missed him again.

Quickly, he leaped over the hood of a car and took cover behind it as his opponent shot twice more. The car took the damage for him. The EDF man looked confused as to how Steele had managed to sidestep a bullet – twice – as his fellow EDF member staggered to his feet, using the now dented light post to help himself stand.

"Nice aim," he remarked sarcastically.

"Shut up," the one that had missed Steele snapped. "The kid's just lucky."

Steele popped up from behind the car and chucked his gun at the man with the pistol. It whacked him right between the eyes, and Steele quickly ran across the surface of the car hood. He jumped off it and kicked the stunned human in the chest with both legs and knocked him backwards. He turned as he landed on the ball of one foot and threw a knife he had drawn from his sleeve at the other human's chest.

It slid partway through his skin and Steele kicked the knife with his boot, driving the knife all the way to the hilt. The man fell and he slid a second throwing knife from his sleeve, holding it comfortably between his fingers in preparation to throw it at the second man he had kicked. There was the sound of a gunshot and Steele lowered the knife as the man fell, revealing Romanoff standing behind him with her ICER raised.

Steele was luckily in a SHIELD combat uniform, so Romanoff didn't also shoot him.

"Where's your gun?" Romanoff asked instead.

Steele pointed to where it lay on the ground, the slide still jammed. "It jammed."

Romanoff didn't look impressed. As the area was mostly secure, Romanoff turned and went off to another part of the street. Steele made a face and grudgingly picked up the jammed ICER, yanking his knife from the chest of the human he had killed and stalking off to find another EDF goon he could thrash.

Harris, who had been listening to the clamor of radio channels as the agents spoke to each other as he watched his friend fight, spoke.

"The city's mostly secure," Harris told her, "and they've dealt with the Chitauri tech users. There are casualties on both sides, including among the civilians. There's still some fighting amid the buildings."

Hill made a face, disliking the fact that they hadn't been able to protect the civilians. "Anything else?"

"Nothing there," Harris told her, switching to internal channels so he could hear the troops of the Triskelion. "It sounds as if all the intruders here have been dealt with."

"Good," Hill nodded. "Alert me if anything changes."

"Yes sir," Harris replied instinctively.

With a motion from Hill, two of the agents left with her to continue their patrol, but one stayed with Harris. He was glad for that, and returned to his duties. This battle wasn't over yet.

* * *

The crosshairs of a sniper's scope focused on Ethan Steele as he sidestepped around one, two, three bullets at once. One of them came close to skimming his hair, but that was all the more damage they could do. Either he was a powered human or he had figured out a neat trick to tell where the bullets were going to go before they fired.

Impressed, the sniper lowered the rifle's scope from her eye with a smile. Nira rubbed a lock of her jet colored hair between the pads of two of her fingers. She thought she could understand Kárr's interest in young Steele.

Nira sent out a senseline and felt that the number of EDF troops still conscious or alive had dwindled to a fragment of the original force. There was a difference between the auras of EDF and SHIELD members, as fanatic supremacists had a very distinct touch to them. Although it pained her to have to walk away from such a gloriously bloody battle, Nira knew that this wasn't the time to introduce herself to Earth.

With a pained sigh and an almost jealous look at the humans that were currently killing, Nira forced herself to stand and walk away from the battle scene. Kárr's plan – Chthon's plan – was more important than her whims and Nira had no intentions of crossing him. Cradling her rifle in her arms as if it was merely a cat, Nira walked across the roof.

The light flickered and bent around her form as she pulled it to her, rendering her invisible. Now cloaked, she jumped to another roof and left the battle zone unnoticed and unhindered.

* * *

 **Ooh, Angborn kind of freaks me out in this chapter. He might not be the safest ally for SHIELD to have. Harris and Steele do have rolls to play in my universe. What do you think of them? Don't say it out loud to yourself. Please leave it in a review so I can read it. I'm no telepath (unfortunately) so you have to tell me what you're thinking.**


End file.
